Baguio's coldest this season: 9.6ºC

Baguio City experienced its coldest weather this holiday season early yesterday morning as the temperature went down to 9.6 degrees Celsius, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

In Metro Manila, temperature fluctuated from 18.2 degrees Celsius last Dec. 18 to 21.8 degrees Celsius last Jan. 2 and 19.3 degrees Celsius at around 6:30 a.m. yesterday.

Weather forecaster Ludy Alviar reported that between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. yesterday, the weather in Baguio dropped to 9.6 degrees Celsius, two notches colder than its Dec. 18, 2008 temperature of 9.8 degrees Celsius.

This was also lower than the Jan. 2 reading of 12.6 degrees Celsius, Alviar said.

Weathermen from Pagasa-Baguio said the biting cold, especially in the early mornings, is due to the northeast monsoon blowing from the Pacific.

Dr. Salvador Olinares of Pagasa said the snow in the Pacific is also bound to the Chinese mainland, bringing chill to the highlands.  

Alviar said there is a possibility that the 9.6 degrees Celsius in Baguio could drop anytime this month.

Traditionally, cold weather spells start in December, reach their peak in January, and taper off by the last week of February before the summer.

“We are expecting that the month of January would be colder because of the continued cold air coming from mainland China and Siberia,” Alviar said.

The coldest temperature in Baguio – 6.3 degrees Celsius – was recorded on Jan. 18, 1961.

Weather forecasters could not say if the coldest record of 6.3 degrees Celsius would be broken this month.

Last December, the chill though was erratic and even jumped up to 12 degrees Celsius during Christmas and began to dip again before yearend, Olinares said.

In northern Benguet, the country’s “Vegetable Salad Bowl” where temperature is oftentimes two to three degrees lower, government agriculturists have yet to report the effects of the low temperature on the vegetable industry.

Atok, the vegetable-growing town with the highest elevation, experienced a low of 5 degrees Celsius last Dec. 17 and 18. 

The temperature went up as Christmas came, sparing farmers the agony of the frostbite on their produce, especially in demand during Christmas and New Year.

Benguet agriculturist Lolita Bentrez said the effects of frost show several days after it strikes. – With Evelyn Macairan