Warmer Christmas this year – Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos can expect a warmer Christmas this year.

The easterly winds triggered by El Niño are preventing the northeast monsoon from China and Siberia from moving toward the country, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said yesterday.

“The amihan, which started last month, is not reaching us because it is suppressed by the easterlies,” Rene Paciente, chief of PAGASA’s meteorological services section, said.

Paciente said temperatures usually go down to 18 degrees Celsius in December and January in Metro Manila.

Yesterday, the lowest temperature recorded at the Science Garden in Quezon City was 23.6 degrees Celsius.

Paciente said cold weather is confined to Northern and Eastern Luzon because of El Niño.

“The amihan should have already reached as far as Visayas this time of the year,” he said.

Paciente said only one tropical cyclone is expected to enter the country toward the end of the year due to El Niño.

Thirteen cyclones have so far entered the country this year, lower than the annual average of 19 to 20.