Commission to launch glossary of Pinoy meteorological terms

MANILA, Philippines - The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) will release a glossary of meteorological terms in Filipino to help the Filipino people better understand weather forecasts and instill disaster awareness among them.

National Artist for Literature and KWF president Virgilio Almario said yesterday the KWF produced the glossary titled Patnubay sa Weder Forkast to simplify scientific terms used in the weather bulletins of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

The book will also be helpful to the media in having a “standard language” in weather forecasting, he added.

The KWF decided to produce the book after Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the Visayas and killed more than 6,000 on Nov. 8, 2013.

Yolanda generated a huge storm surge, or abnormal rise of seawater above the predicted astronomical tides. But many people living in the coastal areas in the Visayas reportedly chose to stay in their homes despite the storm surge warnings of PAGASA because they did not know what a storm surge means. This resulted in more casualties.

“Mayroon namang nag- broadcast. Ang problema ay hindi naintindihan yung broadcast ng tao (A weather forecast was broadcasted. The problem is that people did not understand it),” Almario said during the Kapihan forum at the Philippine Information Agency.

“The glossary could help in disseminating information about the weather, so that ordinary people will know how they should prepare for every calamity, not only for typhoon and earthquake, and for them to have disaster awareness,” he added in Filipino.

Benjamin Mendillo, chief of the KWF’s translation division, said around 5,000 copies of the book will be released in three months.

Copies of the book will only be available at the KWF office and PAGASA. KWF will sell the book at P64. PAGASA is yet to decide if the agency will sell the books or distribute these for free.