If you wanted cold weather to kick off your 2024, you’ve got it now — the current northeast monsoon or “amihan” surge has brought record-low temperatures for the year in some PAGASA stations, the state weather bureau said.
What’s more, even if the present northeasterly cold surge eases up, another one will follow as the amihan season continues, climatologist Joey Figuracion of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.
Based on PAGASA’s list of top-ten low temperatures for Jan. 16, Baguio City hit a crisp 13 degrees Celsius, followed by Basco in Batanes at 15.5°C and Tanay, Rizal at 18°C.
The lowest recorded temperature so far this season was logged in La Trinidad, Benguet on Jan. 11 at 12.1°C. Metro Manila, meanwhile, recorded its lowest at 20.2°C at the Science Garden, Quezon City last Sunday.
“This current surge we’re experiencing will last at least two more days. It will get warmer a bit, then we expect another surge in the coming week, so our temperatures will still drop,” Figuracion said.
Some vegetable farmers in Atok, Benguet have experienced frost due to the cold surge. That happens due to a combination of humidity and a drop in temperature, the PAGASA officer said.
While the winter season in the northern hemisphere begins after the December solstice, colder temperatures are usually felt in the Philippines around January and February.
This is the peak of the winter season in the mid-latitude and polar areas, which allows the northeastern monsoon to carry it farther down the globe, Figuracion explained.
The climatologist, however, noted that winter and amihan episodes can vary from year to year. He explained that last year, the Philippines was in a La Niña phase, opposite of the current El Niño phase, which can change the flow of air around polar areas.
Apart from the high-pressure areas over mainland Asia where the amihan winds come from, the polar vortex, an area of low pressure around the north polar region, also influences the cold surge episodes in the country, especially during El Niño, Figuracion said.
The cold surge the country is in now is linked to the Arctic blast in the United States, as both are due to the weakening and expansion of the polar vortex.
Heavy snowfall and high winds have enveloped much of the US, which has already claimed at least three lives in Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia.
Meteorologists forecast the brutal winter weather may continue through the week in some regions and may even affect Texas down south. With AFP