La Niña won’t last till 2nd half?

It seems that the La Niña phenomenon will not extend up to the second half of the year, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

But PAGASA weather branch head Nathaniel Cruz said nothing is certain yet although they are closely monitoring the weather condition this March.

"We do not see any significant deviation that this La Niña will extend up to the second half of the year — in July, August and September," he said.

This, however, is based on the forecast last February indicating that La Niña might prevail until May or June.

To assess the situation beyond these months, PAGASA is closely monitoring the weather condition this month.

It earlier forecast that Filipinos would experience a wet summer because of La Niña.

At present, PAGASA is monitoring the country’s eastern seaboard, which runs from Aparri, Cagayan to Davao Oriental, covering Eastern Visayas, and the Bicol and Caraga regions, among other areas.

The agency warned that the mudslide that buried Barangay Guinsaugon in Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte might not be the last tragedy to hit the country because of La Niña.

"You do not monitor La Niña by the day. You look at the monthly pattern. February is over and the conditions then indicated the continued cooling in the Pacific Ocean and the abnormal warming in our place. And it will continue to be felt and will affect the Philippine climate for the next several months and that means up to (May or June)," Cruz said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US Department of Commerce defines La Niña as "cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean that impact global weather patterns."

La Niña conditions "recur every few years and can persist for as long as two years," the agency says.