It’s official: Rainy season is here The state weather bureau officially declared

MANILA, Philippines — Yesterday the start of the rainy season after Tropical Depression Butchoy dumped heavy rains in many parts of the country over the past days.

“The occurrence of scattered thunderstorms, Tropical Depression Butchoy and the southwest monsoon during the last five days have brought significant amount of rains over the western sections of Luzon and the Visayas,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in a statement.

“This satisfies the criteria of the start of the rainy season in the areas affected by the southwest monsoon which will continue to experience scattered to widespread rains and thunderstorms in the coming days,” the weather bureau said.

However, PAGASA said “such rain events may be followed by dry periods or monsoon break that could last for several days to two weeks.”

Butchoy, the second cyclone to hit the country this year, triggered monsoon rains, causing widespread flooding as it crossed Luzon landmass on Thursday.

The tropical depression made landfall twice in the province of Quezon.

Heavy rains on Thursday caused flash floods and made commuting harder for workers in Metro Manila due to limited public transportation in the region under general community quarantine.

As of 11 a.m. yesterday, PAGASA lifted all tropical cyclone wind signals in areas affected by the weather disturbance.

As of 3 p.m., the center of Butchoy was spotted at 285 kilometers west of Dagupan City, Pangasinan with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 70 kph.

It was forecast to move west northwest at a speed of 25 kph.

PAGASA said Butchoy and the southwest monsoon would continue to bring cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over Luzon and the Visayas in the next 24 hours that could trigger floods and landslides.

Mindanao will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rains due to thunderstorms.

PAGASA weather specialist Ana Clauren said Butchoy was forecast to intensify into a tropical storm within the next 24 hours.

It was expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility between last night and Saturday morning and move generally northwestward towards southern China.

PAGASA also warned against moderate to very rough seas up to 4.5 meters high over the seaboards of Northern and Central Luzon, especially over the seaboards of Ilocos region, Zambales and Bataan due to Butchoy and the southwest monsoon.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has mobilized its personnel and equipment to assist communities affected by Butchoy.

PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa ordered field commanders in Eastern Visayas, Bicol and Central Luzon to assist local government units in restoring basic services that have been affected by the storm.

Police regional and provincial offices were ordered to clear national highways and major thoroughfares of debris and obstacles to allow the unhampered passage of vehicles. Emmanuel Tupas