BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Finally, Baguio is feeling the chill.
The temperature dropped to 12 degrees Celsius at dawn last Monday, the coldest so far this Christmas season.
Yesterday morning, temperature was recorded at 15 degrees Celsius.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), colder mornings are ahead in the next two months.
The official cold months in the highlands start from
December and lasts until February when the Siberian winds from the Pacific blow the melting ice from China.
The coldest temperature recorded in the Philippines was in Baguio in January 1961 at 6.1 degrees Celsius.
In recent years, the coolest was recorded at 7.5 degrees Celsius in the morning of Jan. 15, 2009.
Government weatherman Salvador Olinares said the chill that has seen residents here bringing out their warm clothes is brought about by the northeasterly winds oscillating from North Pole countries.
Meanwhile, in Benguet where the temperature is usually two to three degrees lower, it is starting to turn icy, especially in the revered Mt. Pulag, Luzon’s highest point and the country’s second highest peak after Mt. Apo in Mindanao.