‘Habagat,’ not wet season, behind rains

It’s the “habagat” (southwest monsoon) that’s been bringing rain showers and thunderstorms to some areas of the country, not yet the actual rainy season, the state weather bureau clarified in a press conference on Wednesday.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service (Pagasa) announced the onset of the southwest monsoon on Wednesday, but said the onset of the actual wet season this year was expected sometime between May 28 and June 5.

The southwest monsoon is one of the indicators to declare the arrival of the rainy season, but as yet it remains “weak,” said Robert Sawi, chief of the Pagasa weather forecasting section.

“When [the monsoon] is full-blown, that’s when we get the onset of the rainy season,” he explained.

Sawi said a low pressure area within the Philippine area of responsibility being monitored since the weekend may have “triggered the southwesterly flow.”

Due to the monsoon, the country will continue to experience “early morning or afternoon rain showers and thunderstorms,” Sawi said.

Analiza Solis of the Pagasa’s Climatological and Agrometeorological division said the onset of the rainy season for 2017 will commence between May 28 to June 5, still within the normal onset of the rainy season in the Philippines, which usually occurs from May 27 to June 5.