'Amihan,' easterlies to dominate Philippine weather on Dec. 24–25, per PAGASA
By Jel Santos
(MB FILE PHOTO)
The northeast monsoon or “amihan” and the easterlies will be the dominant weather systems affecting most parts of the country during the Christmas holidays on Dec. 24 and 25, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in its Special Weather Outlook for Christmas 2025.
According to PAGASA, conditions on Wednesday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) will be generally fair over much of the country, with localized rains expected mainly over northern and eastern areas.
“On Wednesday (24 December), Batanes and Babuyan Islands will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains due to the NE Monsoon,” PAGASA said on Monday, Dec. 22.
It added that “the Easterlies will bring generally partly cloudy skies with the possibility of isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms, mostly over the eastern sections of the country.”
For Thursday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day), the state weather bureau said the “amihan” will slightly intensify over Northern Luzon, bringing more cloud cover and light rains in several areas.
“On Thursday (25 December), the NE Monsoon will bring mostly cloudy skies with scattered light rains over Batanes, Cagayan, and Apayao,” the agency said.
It noted that “partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains will prevail over Metro Manila, MIMAROPA, Central Luzon, Ilocos Region, the rest of Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), the rest of Cagayan Valley, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal.”
PAGASA said the rest of Luzon and Western Visayas will have “partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers,” while “the rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with a chance of localized rainshowers or thunderstorms due to Easterlies.”
Sea conditions
Also, the agency warned of changing wind and sea conditions during the holiday period, particularly in Northern Luzon.
“Light to moderate easterly to northeasterly winds with slight to moderate seas, will prevail over the entire archipelago on December 24,” it said.
“For the rest of the forecast period, winds will be moderate to strong northeasterlies with moderate to rough seas over Northern Luzon, while light to moderate northeasterlies with slight to moderate seas will prevail over the rest of the country,” PAGASA added.