The weather bureau declared the onset of the rainy season on Friday as tropical depression “Butchoy” continued to spawn light to moderate rain, and at times heavy monsoon rain, in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and Western Visayas.
“The scattered thunderstorms, tropical depression “Butchoy” and the southwest monsoon during the last five days have brought significant amounts of rain over the western sections of Luzon and the Visayas, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
“This satisfies the criteria of the start of the rainy season in the areas affected by the habagat, which will continue to experience scattered to widespread rain and thunderstorms in the coming days.
“However, such rain events may be followed by dry periods that could last for several days to two weeks,” Pagasa administrator Vicente Malano said.
“Butchoy” intensified slightly while moving west-northwest away from Luzon.
The storm’s center was estimated 285 kilometers west of Dagupan City, with maximum winds of 55 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 70 kph. It was moving west-northwest at 25 kph.
“Butchoy” left the landmass through Zambales on Friday morning. It made landfall twice on Thursday: in Polillo at 5:30 pm and then in Infanta at 6 pm.