Metro sizzles at 35ºC

MANILA, Philippines — The temperature in Metro Manila hit 35.8 degrees Celsius yesterday, the hottest recorded so far this year, the state weather bureau said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the warmest temperature was recorded at the PAGASA Science Garden in Quezon City at 3:10 p.m. 

Meanwhile, the heat index – the temperature as felt by the human body – reached 39 degrees Celsius, PAGASA said.

Heat index is defined by the weather bureau as the “human discomfort index that gives the ‘apparent’ temperature or what humans perceive or feel as the temperature affecting their body.”

On Monday, PAGASA recorded the hottest temperature in the country so far this year at 39 degrees Celsius in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.

Last year, the hottest temperature in Metro Manila was recorded on April 21 at 36.6 degrees Celsius.

PAGASA’s latest climate outlook, however, projected Metro Manila’s maximum temperature to hit as high as 37.9 degrees Celsius this month and in May.

The agency expected even hotter temperatures for Northern Luzon at 39.5 degrees Celsius this month and 40.5 degrees Celsius in May.

In lowland Luzon, the maximum temperature could reach 39.4 degrees Celsius this month and 40 degrees Celsius in May, it said.