Dry season coming ‘very soon;’ amihan may be over by end of week — Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines — Despite warm weather being experienced over several parts of the country for the past few days, the state weather bureau on Tuesday said that the dry season is coming “very soon” as the northeast monsoon or amihan season may likely be over by the end of the week.

In a statement, it read that the recent observation of several Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) stations of a gradual increase in daily temperatures in most parts of the country.

“Wind and pressure analyses also indicate the slowly shifting direction of prevailing winds from northerly to easterly, the weakening of the high-pressure area in mainland Asia, and the gradual strengthening of the North Pacific High,” Dr. Esperanza Cayanan, reading the Pagasa’s official statement, during the briefing.

“Considering that these changes in wind patterns and pressure systems are consistent with the changing of seasons, the Northeast Monsoon season will likely be over by the end of the week. Furthermore, the prevailing weather condition over the country signifies the eventual coming of warm and dry season,” Pagasa added.

As the number of dry and warm days across the country will gradually increase, Pagasa further said that isolated thunderstorms are likely to occur, especially in the afternoon or evening.

“Meanwhile, the on-going La Niña is weakening but may still affect some parts of the country, which may significantly result in above normal rainfall conditions for the month of March,” the state weather bureau said.

Previously, Pagasa said that the La Niña climate pattern would bring an above normal amount of rainfall from December 2020 to February 2021, adding that most climate models suggested that a moderate to strong La Niña will likely persist until May 2021.https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1365773/la-nina-warning-above-normal-rain-4-more-cyclones-till-may-2021

La Niña is a weather phenomenon that causes very dry conditions in the eastern Pacific — the western coast of the Americas — but very wet conditions in the west, including the areas around the Philippines.

JPV