Metro Manila residents woke up on Saturday to the coldest morning so far since the northeast monsoon or “amihan” season began in October 2019.
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) weather observer Mel Duque said Metro Manila’s temperature dropped to 20.5 degrees Celsius around 6:10 a.m. on Saturday. It was specifically recorded at the Science Garden monitoring station in Quezon City.
PAGASA considers the Science Garden station as the “most ideal” place to get the lowest air temperature in the metropolis because of the absence of “obstructions,” unlike at the NAIA and Port Area stations were “smoke, urban heat, buildings, and airplanes” affect the air temperature.
The coldest day in history in Metro Manila was registered twice on February 4, 1987 and December 30, 1988 at 15.1 degrees Celsius.
Saturday’s cold weather is attributed to the surge of the amihan prevailing across Luzon.
According to PAGASA weather specialist Meno Mendoza, the amihan will likely continue to bring cloudy skies with scattered light rains over Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, and Aurora.
Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, except Bicol Region and Palawan will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light amihan rains.
Mendoza said these areas may experience intermittent to occasional rush of cold wind, especially in mountainous and coastal communities.
Meanwhile, he noted that the tail-end of cold front or the boundary between cold amihan and warm easterlies will likely bring cloudy skies with scattered rains and isolated thunderstorms over Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, and Southern Leyte.
Palawan and the rest of Visayas and Mindanao may experience fair weather condition with isolated rain showers from localized thunderstorms.
These areas including Bicol and Eastern Visayas were warned of possible flash floods or landslides in high risk areas during the occurrence of severe thunderstorms. (Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz)
