MANILA, Philippines - The state weather bureau said yesterday the volume of rainfall during the first five days of November far exceeded the precipitation for an entire month in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan, Isabela and Casiguran in Quezon.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported that from Nov. 1 to 5, the volume of rainfall in Tuguegarao was 459.8 millimeters, compared to the 233.20 millimeters monthly average, an increase of 197 percent.
In Isabela, there was 293.5 millimeters of rainfall for five days compared to 200.9 millimeters, an increase of 146 percent. As for Casiguran, there was 778.2 millimeters compared to the monthly average of 565.1 millimeters, or a 138-percent increase.
PAGASA, however, noted that in Aparri and Baler, the rainfall during the five-day period did not surpass the expected monthly rainfall.
From Nov. 1 to 5, there was only 320.0 millimeters of rain in Aparri and 352.7 millimeter in Baler, compared to the monthly average of 329.0 millimeters and 420.3 millimeters, respectively.
PAGASA weather forecaster Bernie de Leon said that this was a normal occurrence whenever there is a low-pressure area (LPA) or a tropical cyclone.
De Leon added that climate change might have also been a factor.
“The volume of rainfall is higher than extreme events. There was more rainfall than the usual LPA,” he said.
He explained that it was only in the areas of Tuguegarao, Isabela and Casiguran that there were reports of excessive rainfall for November because the LPA was concentrated in these areas.
As for the LPA that was spotted last Friday, De Leon downplayed the possibility that it would develop into a tropical depression. As of 2 p.m. yesterday, Pagasa spotted the LPA at approximately 50 kilometers north of Aparri, Cagayan.
He said they expect the LPA to dissolve in 24 hours, to “just become a cloud cluster.”
Northern and central Luzon would experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. There could be widespread rains over northern Luzon and the eastern section of central Luzon, which might trigger flashfloods and landslides.
The rest of the country would have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms.
Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast would prevail over extreme northern Luzon, with winds coming from southeast and east over the rest of Northern Luzon. The coastal waters along these areas would be moderate to rough.
Elsewhere, winds would be light to moderate coming from the southeast and east with slight to moderate seas.