PAG-ASA forecasts lesser rain in coming months

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu Province has received enough rains in the previous months but not for long.

Alfredo Quiblat, Jr., officer-in-charge of Visayas PAGASA Regional Services Division, warned that in the succeeding months, lesser rains are expected amid the threat of an El Niño occurrence.

Starting this month until April, rainfall condition in the region, including Cebu, is expected to be below normal.

He said this event may be attributed to the possibility that an El Niño phenomenon may occur.

There is a "high" chance that the onset of El Niño may develop before the year ends according to recent predictions.

An area experiencing three consecutive months with "below normal" rainfall condition can be categorized already as dry condition.

Quiblat, however, clarified that the impact of an El Niño phenomenon may vary from one place to the other.

But one common effect of it to the country is the scarcity of rain.

An El Niño refers to the natural event when there is an unusual warming of the ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.

On July 5, PAGASA raised the alert status to “El Niño Watch," meaning a development of an El Niño condition is favored within the next six months.

The local weather station in Mactan recorded scarce rains last July and August.

Cebu province had a rainfal deficit of 30 percent in July and 70 percent in August.

But rains in September and October apparently returned to normal, recovering from the deficit.

Last September, Cebu received its expected rainfall amount of 200 millimeters while the average for October is set at nearly 200 mm and Cebu's actual rain closed at 223.6 mm. — MBG (FREEMAN)