'Warm, dry' season is near — PAGASA
Published Mar 17, 2023 12:46 am
As the northeast monsoon or “amihan” continues to gradually weaken, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) sees that the warm and dry season may begin in the country in the next few days.
In a weather update posted on PAGASA’s official social media page on Friday, March 17, weather specialist Benison Estareja said the onset of warm and dry season may occur “next week until the last days of March.”
“Right now, the northeast monsoon continues to weaken and only affects Northern and Central Luzon, while the easterlies, or the warm and humid air from the Pacific Ocean, slowly approaches our country,” he said in Filipino.
Don’t call it ‘summer’
Estareja also pointed out that warm and dry season in the country is not called “summer.” The term summer is used in countries that experience four seasons, namely winter, spring, autumn, and summer. The Philippines has only two seasons—the rainy season, from June to November, and the dry season, from December to May. The dry season can be further divided into the cold and dry season, from December to February, and the warm and dry season, from March to May.PH to have cyclone-free weekend
In the next 24 hours, PAGASA said the Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, and Central Luzon will experience partly cloudy to cloudy weather with light amihan rains. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy weather with isolated rain showers or localized thunderstorms. Meanwhile, Estareja said the low pressure area (LPA) that PAGASA has been monitoring in eastern Visayas for the past few days has dissipated on Friday. He said PAGASA has not yet monitored a tropical cyclone that may enter the country’s area of responsibility until Monday, March 20. According to the PAGASA’s climate outlook, the country may expect “zero or one” tropical cyclone each in March and April, and “one or two” cyclones in May.