Temperatures in the cities of Tagaytay and Baguio yesterday dipped to 15.6 degrees Celsius and 7.5 degrees Celsius, respectively, the lowest temperatures recorded so far this year in the country, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
Pagasa weather branch chief Nathaniel Cruz said the coldest temperature in Tuguegarao City was also recorded yesterday at 13.8 degrees Celsius.
Yesterday’s temperature in Baguio City has surpassed the coldest temperature recorded last Jan. 3 at 9.2 degrees Celsius.
In Metro Manila, the temperature recorded yesterday was 19.4 degrees Celsius. The coldest temperature recorded in the metropolis so far this year was at 18.2 degrees Celsius last Jan. 4.
Based on Pagasa data, the lowest temperature recorded in Baguio City was at 6.3 degrees Celsius on Jan. 18, 1961.
On the other hand, the lowest temperature in Metro Manila was recorded in 1987 at 15.1 degrees Celsius.
In Benguet, the temperature reached six degrees yesterday morning.
Last December, Atok, a town in Benguet, experienced a low of 5 degrees Celsius, but the temperature climbed to 12 before Christmas and New Year.
Benguet provincial agriculturist Lolita Bentres, however, said there is no visible frost damage yet in the vegetable-producing towns in northern Benguet.
Pagasa weather forecaster Gener Quitlong said temperatures in Metro Manila are not expected to further drop this week because of the prevalence of the easterly wind.
The easterly wind usually brings warm weather to the country.
“Although the weather in Metro Manila will still be cold, it will not surpass the 18.2 degrees Celsius recorded last Jan. 4,” Quitlong said in a phone interview.
He said the country would experience warmer weather next week.
Meanwhile, Quitlong said the tail-end of a cold front continues to bring widespread rains over eastern Visayas and eastern and northern Mindanao.
He said Luzon would have partly cloudy skies with isolated passing light rains in the next 24 hours.
No weather disturbance, however, is expected to affect the country until the weekend, Quitlong said.
Cold spell casualty
Felipe Catulin, 72 and a resident of Tuguegarao City, reportedly died Wednesday due to hypertension caused by the chilly weather, which the province has been experiencing since last week.
Dr. James Guzman, city health officer, said the cold weather might have triggered the victim’s hypertension, leading to complications.
At the time the victim suffered a stroke, the mercury levels in the city reached 14 degrees Celsius, so far the lowest temperature the city had experienced.
Guzman said illnesses prevalent during cold weather include asthma and upper respiratory infection.
Rise in hospital cases
Health officials in the Cordillera region are probing whether the drop in temperature is linked to the hike in hospital cases.
Admitting there was already a rise in “consultation cases” in government hospitals, government medical specialist Antonio Bautista, regional chief of the Disease Prevention and Control of the Department of Health-Cordillera, said there remains to be a missing link between the cases and the cold temperature.
An increase in colds and upper respiratory diseases has been observed at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Benguet General Hospital and in Mayoyao town in Ifugao.
Meantime, Bautista said those aged 0-14 years old and 45 and up are vulnerable to the drop in temperature.
The DOH said those suffering from chronic diseases, and have TB, asthma, emphysema or bronchitis must be careful as “cold weather might precipitate their diseases.”
Those with heart problems must also be monitored during these times, he said. - With Artemio Dumlao, Charlie Lagasca