Cold winds from Siberia to usher in cooler nights in November

MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image as of 2:32 p.m., 04 October 2013

MANILA—Cool nights and “bed weather” await Filipinos by the second week of November as warm and moist winds from the equator slowly give way to cold and dry winds from Siberia, the state weather bureau said on Friday.

Typically, a lull of two weeks occurs between the shift in the prevailing winds from the southwest monsoon, or “hanging habagat,” to the northeast monsoon, or the “hanging amihan,” thus relatively cold weather is expected to set in during the second week of November, said Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration forecaster Fernando Cada.

At present, “there is still a weak southwest monsoon” prevailing over the country’s western sections, preventing the drop in temperatures that characterizes the start of the northwest monsoon, he said.

Cada added that average temperatures in Northern Luzon still had not gone down. For example, Baguio temperatures are still in the range of 24-25 degrees Celsius, he said.

A drop to 20 to 21 degrees Celsius in Baguio would signal the start of cooler weather, he added.

Meanwhile, Typhoon Quedan maintained its strength over the Philippine Sea on Friday, but no public storm warnings were raised as the weather disturbance was too far to directly affect any part of the country, Pagasa said.

But a new tropical cyclone has been spotted over the Pacific Ocean, Cada said. Japanese and American meteorologists have classified the weather disturbance as a tropical depression, he added.

Cada said it would be given the local name “Ramil” if it enters the Philippine area of responsibility.

“As of now, it is still too far, some 1,000 kilometers from the boundary of the PAR,” he added.

As of mid-Friday, Quedan was observed some 720 kilometers northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, packing sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour near the center, gusting up to 150 kph.

Pagasa warned that sea travel was risky off the northern and eastern coasts Luzon.

According to Pagasa’s 24-hour weather outlook, the Bicol Region, Palawan, the Visayas islands and Zamboanga Peninsula will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening, it said.