Longest night on Dec. 21

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos will experience the longest night this year or the winter solstice on Dec. 21, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said yesterday.

The winter solstice marks the time when the sun lies at its farthest point south of the equator, PAGASA said.

Darkness will set in at 5:32 p.m. and last until 6:16 a.m. the following day, or 12 hours and 44 minutes of nighttime.

Jose Mendoza, chief of PAGASA’s astronomical publication unit, said Filipinos could expect colder and longer nights after the winter solstice.

Mendoza said the cold season is expected to last until February.

Meanwhile, PAGASA said the tail-end of a cold front would bring cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms over Aurora and Quezon until today.

The regions of Cagayan, Cordillera and Ilocos will have cloudy skies with light rains.

The rest of the country, including Metro Manila, will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rains and thunderstorms.

The weather bureau warned fishermen against big waves in the northern and eastern seaboards of Northern Luzon due to the surge of the northeast monsoon.