Southwest monsoon to bring rain to Batanes, Babuyan Islands Aug 17

The southwest monsoon will dump rain over Batanes and Babuyan Islands on Saturday, August 17, 2024, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). Pagasa weather satellite image

MANILA, Philippines — The southwest monsoon will dump rain over Batanes and Babuyan Islands on Saturday, Aug. 17, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

In an early morning advisory, Pagasa specifically said that Batanes and Babuyan Islands may anticipate partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms as effects of the dominant southwest monsoon, locally termed habagat.

Pagasa declared the official onset of the rainy season in the country on May 29, which means that the southwest monsoon becomes the prevailing system influencing weather nationwide.

Meanwhile, Pagasa’s weather forecast for Saturday indicated that Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have generally fair weather despite chances of isolated rain showers brought by localized thunderstorms.

READ: Pagasa declares official start of rainy season

The state weather service also noted that the low pressure area (LPA) inside the Philippine area of responsibility is still unlikely to affect the country’s weather.

Pagasa weather specialist Daniel James Villamil said that based on their latest monitoring, the LPA was  375 kilometers north-northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, as of 3 a.m. on Saturday.

“Nananatiling maliit ‘yung tyansa ng nasabing low pressure area na maging isang ganap na bagyo sa mga susunod na araw at wala naman tayong inaasahang magiging direktang epekto nito sa ano mang bahagi ng ating bansa,” said Pagasa weather specialist Daniel James Villamil.

(The chances of this low pressure area developing into a full-blown storm in the coming days remain low, and we do not expect it to have any direct impact on any part of our country.)

READ: Southwest monsoon to cause rain in 5 Luzon areas Aug 10

On predicted temperature ranges in key cities and areas around the country for Aug. 17, Pagasa issued the following:

• Metro Manila: 26 to 34 degrees Celsius
• Baguio City: 17 to 24 degrees Celsius
• Laoag City: 24 to 32 degrees Celsius
• Tuguegarao: 24 to 34 degrees Celsius
• Legazpi City: 26 to 33 degrees Celsius
• Puerto Princesa City: 26 to 32 degrees Celsius
• Tagaytay: 24 to 32 degrees Celsius
• Kalayaan Islands: 25 to 32 degrees Celsius
• Iloilo City: 26 to 33 degrees Celsius
• Cebu: 26 to 33 degrees Celsius
• Tacloban City: 26 to 32 degrees Celsius
• Cagayan de Oro City: 25 to 32 degrees Celsius
• Zamboanga City: 25 to 33 degrees Celsius
• Davao City: 26 to 34 degrees Celsius

As for the country’s seaboards, Pagasa did not raise any gale alerts over any coasts nationwide.