‘Amihan’ here; cold days not far behind

With the “amihan,” or the northeast monsoon, now in full force at the beginning of the “tropical winter” months of November and December, the public can expect much cooler days ahead, signaled by the low temperatures recorded in Luzon in recent days.

The lowest temperatures so far since the arrival of the northeast monsoon were recorded in Luzon on the morning of Friday, according to forecasters at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Elderly women mixed and matched their homegrown sweaters with thick snow jackets at Burnham Park in Baguio City. The cooling temperatures have allowed local folk to bring out their best winter fashion gear, usually courtesy of Baguio’s secondhand clothes stores where snow jackets from the US and Asia are stocked. PDI-NL PHOTOS / Richard Balonglong

Baguio City registered its coldest temperature so far this month last Friday, with 12.4 degrees at around 5 a.m.

Metro Manila also woke up to a chilly 19.7 degrees at 6 a.m. last Friday. It was even colder in Aurora province at 19.2 degrees that morning.

According to senior forecaster Jori Loiz, the northeast monsoon started to go “full force” after Typhoon “Paeng” (international name Nuri) moved away from the country last week.

He said the public can expect much cooler mornings during the month. “The temperature also depends on where the winds are coming from. If the northeasterly winds are from mainland China, we can expect them to be colder,” he said.

The northeast monsoon usually peaks in January and ends in February.

Baguio City was coldest this year on Jan. 19 when the temperature dropped to 8.1 degrees while Metro Manila’s lowest temperature was 17.5 degrees on Jan. 18.

Historically, the lowest temperature in the country’s summer capital was 6.3 degrees on Jan. 18, 1961, while the National Capital Region experienced its coldest in February 1962 at 14.6 degrees.

The weather bureau is monitoring a low pressure area (LPA) east of Mindanao that could enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) next week.

Loiz said the LPA was 1,000 kilometers from the PAR and somewhere east of Mindanao.

According to the Pagasa forecast for today, the regions of Cagayan Valley and Ilocos as well as the Cordillera Administrative Region and Central Luzon will have partly cloudy skies with isolated light rains because the “amihan” is prevailing over the areas.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country are expected to be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds will prevail over Luzon, where coastal waters will be moderate to occasionally rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate with slight to moderate seas.

 
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