MANILA, Philippines—The downpours being experienced in Metro Manila and many parts of Luzon are just localized thunderstorms and not yet indicative of the onset of the wet season, the state weather bureau said Friday.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) had remained dominant across Palawan and Mindanao, bringing widespread rains over these areas.
Pagasa forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said it was still too early to declare the start of the rainy season as the conditions, including rainfall level of 25 millimeters over five days, had not been met.
“We usually declare it in the last week of May or the first week of June. Since the last week of May is over, we will see if the conditions will have been met by next week,” he said.
Based on Pagasa’s outlook for Saturday, Central Luzon, Metro Manila, the Southern Tagalog region, Western Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.
The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly over the western section, it added.
In preparation for the rainy season, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is set to distribute inflatable boats to flood-prone areas in the country.
Office of Civil Defense Executive Director Eduardo del Rosario showed the bright orange motorized boats to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and military chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista at Camp Aguinaldo.
Del Rosario said the inflatable boats cost P750,000 each.
The NDRRMC purchased 26 boats and distributed 19 to local government units for free, he said. The rest will be given to the military and other national responders.
But Del Rosario admitted the boats would not be enough for those who would need them. With a report from Nikko Dizon