Pagasa: Enjoy cool weather this month

MANILA, Philippines -  The state weather bureau suggested that Filipinos enjoy the cool weather this month as higher temperatures are expected by March.

Robert Sawi, weather branch chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the northeast monsoon, which brings rain and cool weather, is expected to end this February.

Sawi said the public can expect gradually increasing temperatures in the coming days.  

“Normally it (northeast monsoon) ends in February and since we are in the middle of February I think it (cool weather) is the last hurrah,” Sawi said in a text message to The STAR.

Sawi, meanwhile, said PAGASA expects a normal onset of the summer season for the areas under Type I climate.

It includes Metro Manila, the Ilocos region, western parts of Mt. Province and Nueva Ecija, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Zambales, Occidental Mindoro, southern parts of Antique and Iloilo, northwestern part of Palawan, and the southern parts of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.

Areas under Type I climate have two pronounced seasons – dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year. Their maximum rainy period is from June to September.

Although there will be rains during the dry season due to the lingering La Niña phenomenon, high temperatures are still expected in summer, Sawi said.

Meanwhile, Sawi said rains would continue to prevail over southern Luzon, eastern Visayas and Mindanao in the next few days.

However, he said, no tropical cyclone is likely to affect the country this week.