Metro sizzles at 36.6 ºC but ‘no heat wave’ yet

COCO COOLDOWN This young city lad along Roxas Boulevard in Manila finds an all-natural thirst quencher on Friday as the capital endured its hottest day so far this year. RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines—Metro Manila sizzled at 36.6 degrees Celsius Friday afternoon, the hottest day in the capital so far, but there’s no heat wave yet, the state weather bureau said.

Forecasters at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) predicted that temperatures would rise even higher, but dispelled fears of a heat wave which requires three consecutive days of temperatures reaching three degrees higher than the average summer temperature of 35 degrees Celsius in Metro Manila.

Friday’s 36.6 degrees Celsius reading was recorded in the Science Garden of Pagasa in Quezon City at 3:55 p.m., and surpassed the previously recorded hottest day on April 16, with its temperature of 36.1 degrees.

Nationwide, the hottest day this year was on April 6 when Echague town in Isabela registered a temperature of 39.6 degrees Celsius, followed by April 5 in Tuguegarao City with a reading of 38 degrees Celsius. Both were recorded between 2 and 3 p.m.

The trough of a low-pressure area (LPA) is expected to bring cloudy skies and light rains over the Caraga and Davao regions, Pagasa said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the ridge of a high-pressure area (HPA) extending across Luzon will mean generally fair weather except for isolated rains, the weather bureau said.

In its outlook for Saturday, Pagasa said Davao, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City) will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms due to the trough, or extension, of an LPA approaching Mindanao.

Due to the ridge of an HPA, which typically brings clear skies, the weather in Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be generally fair but partly cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, Pagasa said.

Light to moderate winds blowing from the east to southeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and coming from the east over Mindanao. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate, it added.