Cold winds to continue–Pagasa

MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image 4 a.m., 06 March 2013

MANILA, Philippines—Cold winds from the northeast continue to blow into the country ahead of the expected arrival of summer, bringing clouds and isolated rains over most areas, the weather bureau said Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, the northeast monsoon, known locally as “hanging amihan”—referring to the winds blowing in from Siberia—was still affecting Luzon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Pagasa Administrator Nathaniel Servando earlier said that once the northeast monsoon—which typically begins in the last quarter of the year and lasts until the first quarter of the following year—passed, summer would officially arrive.

Based on the weather outlook for Wednesday, the Caraga, Davao and Eastern Visayas regions will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.

The Cagayan Valley, Bicol and Aurora and Quezon provinces will experience cloudy skies with light rains, it said.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country, on the other hand, will be partly cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, Pagasa said.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and the eastern sections of the Visayas and Mindanao. The coastal waters in these areas will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the northeast with slight to moderate seas, Pagasa said.

The weather bureau warned of strong to gale force winds along the seaboards of Luzon and eastern Visayas.

It also issued a special weather outlook for Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, the two provinces hardest hit by Typhoon “Pablo” last year.

Pagasa said the weather in the two provinces will be cloudy with moderate to heavy rains on Wednesday. Winds will be moderate to strong coming from the northeast, with moderate to rough seas.