PAGASA: Brace for more rain

CEBU, Philippines - A weather bureau official yesterday said that after the dry spell, Cebu and the rest of the Visayas can expect more rain during the remaining days of May because of the presence of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone.

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration-Mactan Officer-in-charge Al Quiblat said that while there was rain every day the past few days, yesterday’s rain was a heavy downpour due to the ITZ, which would bring cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms in the next few days.

 “Sunod-sunod na ang pag-ulan, pwede isolated rains-showers or thunderstorms. One of the indications sa pagsulod sa ting-ulan,” he said.

Quiblat said that because of the ITZ, there is a possibility that rainfall condition would rise from “below normal” to “near normal” next week, or by the end of May.

Despite the rain, however, Quiblat said the El Niño weather phenomenon is still very much present but would now be at its weakening stage.

PAGASA earlier predicted that El Niño would be gone by June.

The country, however, is predicted to suffer another kind of weather condition by the second half of the year — the La Niña phenomenon which would this time trigger landslides and flooding.

Both PAGASA and the Office of Civil Defense-7 have advised local officials to monitor landslide- and flood-prone areas and for residents living near the rivers or waterways to take precautions against floods.  (FREEMAN)