MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on Tuesday declared that the country is experiencing "strong El Niño."
PAGASA climate monitoring section chief Anthony Joseph Lucero said in an interview with radio dzMM that indications of a strong El Niño phenomenon have been observed since July.
The said indications should be experienced for three consecutive months for it to be declared as strong El Niño.
According to PAGASA, a strong El Niño is 1.5 degrees celsius hotter than an ordinary drought.
Around 58 percent of the country will experience severe drought before the end of the year and may climb up to 85 percent by February 2016.
The current El Niño phenomenon may be compated to the drought from 1997 to 1998, where 70 percent of the country was affected and P4 billion worth of crops were damaged.
Malacañang earlier assured that the government is on top of the situation.
RELATED: ‘Government on top of El Niño situation’