Metro Manila folk swelter in 36 degrees Celsius

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Residents of Metro Manila suffered another sweltering summer day on Thursday as the temperature hit 36 degrees Celsius for the second day in a row.

The temperature reading was recorded at 3 p.m. at the Science Garden of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in Quezon City, weather forecasters said.

On Wednesday, the temperature hit 36.2 degrees, also at Science Garden, one of Pagasa’s monitoring stations, which is considered the most representative of actual temperatures in the capital.

But the temperature readings were still a tad cooler than the hottest day of 2014 in Metro Manila—on May 1 when it reached 36.4 degrees.

In 2013, the highest Metro Manila temperature was 36.6 degrees, recorded on April 19 at Science Garden, according to Pagasa.

There are, however, no signs of a heat wave striking Metro Manila.

A heat wave requires three consecutive days of the temperature reaching three degrees higher than average (in Metro Manila, the average summer temperature is 35 degrees).

Based on Pagasa’s 24-hour outlook, easterlies—or warm, moist winds emanating from the Pacific Ocean—remain the dominant weather system, bringing hot, humid weather in most parts of the country.

“The entire archipelago will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening,” it said.

Light to moderate winds blowing from the east to the southeast will prevail throughout the archipelago and the coastal waters will be slightly to moderately rough, Pagasa said.