The northeast monsoon, locally known as “amihan,” may be gradually coming to an end as the warm easterly wind from the Pacific Ocean has started to become the dominant weather system in the country over the past few days.

“Posibleng hanggang sa pagtatapos ng linggong ito ay easterlies ang mararanasan na panahon sa malaking bahagi ng ating bansa. Pansamantala nating hindi mararamdaman itong hanging amihan. Pero posible pa ring bumalik ‘yung amihan by weekend or by next week (It is possible that until the end of this week, the easterlies will be experienced in a large part of our country. In the meantime, we will not feel the cold winds from the amihan. But it is still possible for the amihan to return by the weekend or by next week),” PAGASA specialist Obet Badrina said in a live weather forecast on Monday, Feb. 19.

The amihan season typically ends between the second and third week of March, he added.

Hot weather, isolated rain showers

Badrina said the easterlies will likely prevail over most of the country this week, bringing partly cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, mostly in the afternoon or evening.

“Wala masyadong kaulapan kaya generally fair weather ang mararanasan sa bansa pero mayroon pa ring isolated rain showers and thunderstorms sa bandang hapon hanggang sa gabi (There is little cloud cover, so the weather will be generally fair throughout the country, but there will be isolated rain showers and thunderstorms from the afternoon until the evening)” he said.

From Feb. 20 to 23, the maximum air temperatures may reach 33 degrees Celsius (℃) in Metro Manila, 33 to 34℃ in Tuguegarao City, 24 to 25℃ in Baguio City, 30 to 31℃ in Tagaytay City, 32 to 33℃ in Puerto Princesa City, 31 to 32℃ in Metro Cebu, 33 to 34℃ in Metro Davao, and 34 to 35℃ in Zamboanga City.

“Samantala, wala tayong inaasahang bagyo na maaaring mabuo o pumasok sa loob ng Philippine area of responsibility posible hanggang sa pagtatapos ng linggong ito (Meanwhile, we do not expect any tropical cyclones to form or enter the Philippine area of ​​responsibility until the end of this week),” Badrina said.