Signs indicate the rains will soon be here, says Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines—Summer is ending.

Climate signs indicate that the wet season will soon be here.

According to Administrator Nathaniel Servando of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the country is now in transition from summer to rainy season.

The southwest monsoon or habagat, the dominant weather system from June to November, is now prevailing in the country, signaling the end of a blistering summer, Servando said on Friday.

In Manila, the highest temperature recorded this year was 36.6 degrees Celsius.

In its advisory Friday, the weather bureau noted that the country’s western seaboard is getting moderate to strong southwesterly winds, a sign that summer is ending.

Another sign is the increased cloudiness and rains.

Servando said residents of Metro Manila and surrounding areas might have noticed the changes. “The mornings are warm but by afternoon, there are rains,” he said.

Servando said Pagasa would declare the onset of the rainy season once five of its eight rain stations register rainfall levels amounting to 25 millimeters in five consecutive days.

Servando said he expected the record to be reached early next week. “We are closely monitoring this over the weekend,” he said.

Pagasa, he said, may declare the start of the rainy season next week.

Rains and thunderstorms—associated with the southwest monsoon—were predicted for Mindanao, Central and Western Luzon and the Visayas.

Friday’s overcast skies and the rains in various parts of the country were due to the southwest monsoon.

The weather bureau said a tropical storm formed over the Pacific this week, but did not enter Philippine maritime territory.

According to foreign meteorological bureaus, the storm, named Sanvu, headed northeast to Japan.