‘Cuddle’ weather on Valentine’s Day

MANILA, Philippines—It is “cuddle weather” for love birds on Valentine’s Day.

The surge of the northeast monsoon is expected to cause temperatures to dip in Luzon over the weekend, although it will no longer be as cool as in previous weeks, weather forecasters said on Thursday.

The temperature in Metro Manila plunged to below 20 degrees on Thursday morning, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

A reading of 18.9 degrees Celsius was recorded at 6 a.m. at Pagasa’s Science Garden in Quezon City. The coldest day in the capital so far this year occurred on Jan. 26 at 15.8 degrees Celsius.

Pagasa forecaster Chris Perez said the cool weather would likely persist in the next few days.

The tail-end of a cold front was also bringing cool air over Eastern Luzon, Cagayan Valley, Bicol region and Aurora and Quezon provinces, he added.

But a weakening of the northeast monsoon, locally known as hanging amihan, which ushers in cold winds from Siberia, will likely result in a slight warming of temperatures by the last few weeks of February, he said.

Based on Pagasa’s 24-hour weather outlook, Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and isolated thunderstorms.

Cagayan Valley, Bicol region and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon will be cloudy with light rains, while Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains, it said.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and Eastern Visayas and the coastal waters in these areas will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds blowing from the northeast will be light to moderate with slight to moderate seas, Pagasa said.