PAGASA: Northeast monsoon starts

MANILA, Philippines — The northeast monsoon has started blowing over the Philippine domain, declared the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

The agency has “observed the strengthening of a high-pressure area over East Asia, which has caused a surge of northeasterly winds over extreme Northern Luzon,” the state weather bureau said yesterday.

Other environmental conditions, which include the increasing atmospheric pressure and cooling of the surroundings, also prompted the agency to declare the onset of the northeast monsoon or amihan.

“With these developments, the amihan is expected to be more dominant in most areas of the country, bringing cool and dry air and episodes of cold temperature surges. Furthermore, occurrences of rough sea conditions and shear lines in the country are also expected within this season,” PAGASA said.

Cloudy and rainy weather will persist over some provinces in Luzon today due to three weather systems, including the northeast monsoon, it added.

A low-pressure area (LPA) will bring cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over Palawan, Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro, according to PAGASA’s 24-hour public weather forecast issued yesterday.

The LPA was last spotted in the vicinity of Dumaran in Palawan, with a low likelihood of developing into a tropical cyclone.

Also, the shear line or the convergence of warm and cold air that usually results in rains, will cause cloudy skies with scattered rains and isolated thunderstorms in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and Aurora.

On the other hand, Batanes will experience cloudy skies with rains because of the northeast monsoon.

The northeast monsoon is also likely to cause moderate to strong winds and coastal waters over extreme Northern Luzon, with waves of up to 3.7 meters, PAGASA said.

Meanwhile, the regions of Western Visayas, Negros Island, Zamboanga Peninsula and Bangsamoro will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms due to the intertropical convergence zone.

Similar weather conditions will prevail in Metro Manila and the rest of the country brought by the easterly winds.