Expect cold weather this month – PAGASA

MANILA, Philippines – Chilly weather will finally be felt this January, especially in the mornings, as the northeast monsoon reaches its peak, the state weather bureau said yesterday.

Rene Paciente, senior weather forecaster at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said a surge of the northeast monsoon is expected this January, bringing cooler temperatures, particularly in upland areas. 

“The surge of the northeast monsoon usually lasts for seven to 10 days on average,” Paciente told The STAR. 

He said Metro Manilans could experience a temperature of 19 to 20 degrees Celsius this month. 

Paciente said the coldest temperature recorded in Metro Manila in January last year was 20 degrees Celsius. 

“We expect it to go down further this month,” he said, noting that the lowest temperature registered in the capital since the northeast monsoon set in last October was 21.2 degrees Celsius.

Paciente said colder weather could also be experienced in Baguio City this month until February.

In January 2016, PAGASA recorded the lowest temperature in Baguio at 10.8 degrees Celsius, he said. 

Meanwhile, Paciente said no weather disturbance is expected to affect the country through the weekend. 

He said the low-pressure area earlier forecast to cross Southern Mindanao this week had dissipated.

Paciente said the northeast monsoon was affecting Luzon and the Visayas, bringing cloudy skies with light rains over the regions of Cagayan Valley, Bicol, Eastern and Central Visayas, and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon.

He added Mindanao would experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and isolated thunderstorms, while Metro Manila and the rest of the country would have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains.