PAGASA: Wednesday’s downpour ‘sign’ that rainy season is looming

MANILA, Philippines — The heavy downpour that caused floods in parts of Metro Manila late Wednesday was an indication that the rainy season is coming, state weather bureau PAGASA said Thursday.

PAGASA weather forecaster Robert Sawi said the rains were caused by a frontal system—where warm and cold air masses interact.

“Na-enhance ito dahil medyo moist na rin ang Luzon area. Nagkaroon din ng isang low pressure area kaya medyo napalakas ‘yung pag-ulan natin,” Sawi said in an interview over dzMM.

(It was enhanced because the Luzon area is somewhat moist. There was also an LPA, which enhance the rains in Luzon.)

He also said Wednesday’s downpour signals that rainy season is looming.

“Ito ay kumbaga ay premonition o palatandaan na talagang nalalapit na ‘yung tag-ulan,” Sawi said, adding that rains in the afternoon or evening are expected every day.

(This is a sign that the rainy season is coming.)

The frontal system affecting parts of Luzon will bring scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over the regions of Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Bicol, and the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have fair weather with possibilities of isolated rainshowers.

In a bulletin Thursday, PAGASA weather forecaster Ariel Rojas said the two LPAs over Luzon waters have fizzled out.

A third LPA—spotted 990 kilometers east of Mindanao at 3 a.m.—is seen to enter the Philippine area of responsibility Thursday. The weather system is not expected to develop into a tropical cyclone. — Gaea Katreena Cabico