Sudden late afternoon rain brings early evening flash floods in Metro Manila

MANILA, Philippines – The sudden rain that lashed several areas in Metro Manila piled miseries to some residents and motorists in the capital region early Tuesday night as tire-deep  flash floods hit some streets in Manila and Makati, Radyo Inquirer 990AM reported.

Hit by floods were Romualdez  Street in Ermita and Ma. Orosa Street in Malate, Manila,  and in Makati, Mola Street  in La Paz Village.

Because Tuesday was Labor Day, an official holiday, fewer vehicles went out of the streets but the floods still caused traffic to slow down. No traffic gridlocks, however, were reported.

But some commuters were left stranded as many public transportation hit the garage early after the late afternoon-early evening downpour , other radio reports said.

Early Tuesday, parts of Luzon and Metro Manila were cooking under 36-plus Celsius but as dusk rushed in, the rain fell suddenly.

In its latest weather bulletin issued at 5 p.m., the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said that as of 2 p.m., the low pressure area was seen 120 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa City.

A Radyo Inquirer 990AM report quoted weather forecaster Bobby Javier as saying  that despite the rain, summer has not yet ended, maintaining that the onset of the rainy season will occur in the last few days of May.

Javier explained that the rain was spawned by “sudden local thunderstorm,” a natural meteorological phenomenon when the day-long high heat causes water to evaporate fast and forms water vapors and droplets and rain clouds.

Pagasa said Quezon City and Navotas residents experienced heavy rain while the rest of Metro Manila had brief rain showers.

Strong winds blew in the Quezon City Memorial Circle at the height of the 30-minute rain, briefly snarling traffic and drenching commuters who were caught unprepared by the first rain in May, popularly known in the Philippines as “agua de Mayo,” which happened also on May 1, Radyo Inquirer reported.

In its official account on the social micro-blogging site Twitter, Pagasa said that among the areas which experienced rain showers were Laguna, Samar provinces, Surigao del Sur, Batangas, Rizal, Albay, Bulacan, Quezon, Davao del Norte, Bohon, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Cavite and Metro Manila.

Due to the existing LPA and ITCZ, Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms which will occur mostly in the afternoons or evenings, the state-run weather bureau said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pagasa said that the country would register its hottest temperature for this year at 37 degrees.