Temperatures to drop, warns Pagasa

MT Satellite image December 31, 2013, 5:32 a.m. Screengrab from https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/

MANILA, Philippines—The weather bureau has advised the public to bundle up with temperatures in the country expected to dip further in January.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Monday morning posted the coldest temperatures in Metro Manila and Baguio City at 20.8 degrees Celsius and 12.2 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Baguio City was at its coldest on Monday at 2 a.m., while Metro Manila registered its lowest temperature at 5 a.m.

Weather forecaster Jun Galang told the Inquirer that temperatures in Metro Manila could go as low as 20 degrees Celsius, while it could get as cold as 11 degrees Celsius in Baguio City in the coming weeks.

The dip in temperature, he said, is caused by the seasonal amihan (northeast monsoon), which is traditionally associated with the Yuletide.

Galang said that normally the lowest temperature in Baguio City is 12.9 degrees Celsius.

He pointed out that the 20.8 degrees Celsius recorded in Metro Manila was so far the lowest since the northeast monsoon’s onset in October.

The weather forecaster said that historically the lowest temperature recorded in Baguio City was 6.3 degrees Celsius in 1961, while Metro Manila was coldest at 15.1 degrees Celsius in 1987.

But Galang said that currently it was not possible for the temperatures to dip that low.

“The cold temperatures brought by the amihan depend on where the winds come from. If the cold winds come from China, we can expect it to be chillier because of the proximity, but if they come from east of Japan they would be warmer because they would have to travel longer,” he explained, adding that the trip would “modify” the wind temperature.—Jeannette I. Andrade