El Niño may persist until year-end — Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines — The El Niño phenomenon may persist until the end of the year, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Wednesday.

“There is still a chance that [El Niño] will continue until the end of this year, 2019. However, the uncertainty is quite high. So in this regard, we will give you update every month regarding this chance,” Pagasa Deputy Administrator Flaviana Hilario said during the weekly economic briefing at Malacanang.

Hilario said the phenomenon, which started as early as October 2018, will likely continue in June, July, and August.

“According to the different models, it will likely continue until June, July, August of this year with high probability around 78%,” Hilario said.

The deputy administrator said the severe impact of the phenomenon was recorded in April when 41 provinces experienced drought condition and 23 provinces suffered dry spell.

This continued in May when 40 provinces were placed under drought conditions while 6 provinces were under a dry spell.

Despite the possibility of El Niño continuing in the country, Hilario said the rainy season may be declared on the first half of June.

“Based on our monitoring, the onset will be either during the first week or second week of June,” Hilario said.

READ: Pagasa: Rainy season starting soon

Because of the phenomenon, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said damage to agriculture, and the fisheries sector has soared to nearly P8 billion. (Editor: Eden Estopace)

READ: Nearly P8 billion worth of agri yields lost to El Niño – DA