EDITORIAL - The weather is now everybody's business

Weather disturbances that threaten the Philippines usually form in either of two warm bodies of water — the Pacific Ocean to the east, and the South China Sea in the west. Storms that develop in the west often do not bother Cebu. It is those from the east that concern us.

From years of experience, Cebuanos have learned that most Pacific-born storms move in a generally northwesterly direction. On a map, that is a 45 degree upward trajectory. What Cebuanos should watch out for, therefore, is where a storm is spotted first by meteorologists.

If a storm is described by meteorologists as being “east of Borongan” then that storm will likely move upward at a 45-degree trajectory toward Luzon and probably spare Cebu from a direct hit.

But if a storm is described as “east of Mindanao” then Cebu will likely be in its path as it moves in the same 45-degree northwesterly trajectory. Of course, as we all know, no one can really predict how a storm behaves, so this should never be taken as a precise lesson.

Still, the unpredictability of the weather is precisely the reason why there is a need for Cebuanos to become more concerned about weather details, especially in these times of climate change and how it is making the weather go haywire.

Take the case of “Urduja” the latest weather disturbance to affect Cebu. While it was a relatively weak storm, the fact that it was located "east of Mindanao" when first spotted made it a real concern for Cebu.

Indeed, because of that location, and the usual northwesterly path Pacific-born storms usually take, the whole of Cebu and not just the northern part came under a storm warning signal. And it was good that people are now more concerned about the weather.

For while Urduja was a relatively weak storm (we have this tendency to measure a storm according to its wind strength), it nevertheless dumped a lot of rain on certain areas in Cebu. The result was the flooding in Naga that was reminiscent of Ondoy's devastation of Luzon.

The flooding in Naga was serious in relation to the “weakness” of Urduja, thereby driving home the point that we can no longer take weather disturbances for granted. The weather and how it is now behaving in unheard of ways is now everybody’s business, not just the weatherman’s.