Temperatures begin to cool, says Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines—Temperatures are starting to cool as rainy season nears, the state weather bureau said.

In Metro Manila, the highest temperature on Thursday was recorded at 29.2 degrees Celsius at 8:30 a.m., the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

The highest temperature for summer this year in Metro Manila was recorded at 36.6 degrees Celsius last April.

But Alvin Pura, weather forecaster of Pagasa, said the easterlies is still the prevailing weather system. The easterlies is the weather system for summer.

He said the rains experienced all over the country is only part of the transition to the rainy season.

The southwest monsoon or hanging habagat is the dominant weather system during the rainy season.

Pura said the rainy season may be declared as early as first week of June provided the criteria for the rainy season have been met, which includes a  rainfall of 25 millimeters over five days, with three successive days of at least 1 millimeter of rain.

Meanwhile, an intertropical convergence zone in Palawan and Mindanao will bring light to moderate rains and thunderstorms in Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas and Mindanao, Pagasa’s bulletin said.

The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms mostly over the western section, it added.

Light to moderate winds blowing from the east to southeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and from the south to southeast over Mindanao. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be light to moderate, it also said.