Longest daytime to be felt today

CEBU, Philippines - Filipinos will experience today the longest daytime of the year as the earth reaches the summer solstice, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration   has said.

“The Philippine nights are at their shortest and daytimes are at their longest around the summer solstice, which falls on June 21 at 6:51 p.m. (Philippine Standard Time),” PAGASA said yesterday.

The daytime will last for 12 hours 59 minutes and 36 seconds.

During the summer solstice, the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun to its maximum extent.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explained that on the day of the summer solstice, the sun appears at its highest elevation with a noontime position that changes very little for several days before and after the summer solstice.

The summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, which is located at + 23.5 degrees, the PAGASA said.

“This event marks the start of the apparent southward movement of the sun in the ecliptic,” the weather bureau added.

Meanwhile, no weather disturbance is expected to affect the country this weekend but some areas in the western section of Luzon will experience rains due to the southwest monsoon.

Rene Paciente, weather forecasting section chief of PAGASA, said light to moderate rains would prevail over the provinces of Zambales, Bataan and Pangasinan in the next three days. Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, on the other hand, would have occasional light rains.

The Visayas and Mindanao would experience scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening, PAGASA weather division chief Robert Sawi said.

The weather bureau spotted two potential low-pressure areas over the West Philippine Sea and east of Mindanao yesterday morning.

But later in the day, Paciente said these were no longer expected to develop into low-pressure areas.

PAGASA expects one more tropical cyclone to enter the country in June. Two cyclones have so far entered the Philippine area of responsibility this month. — PhilStar News Service/NSA