Rainy season is not here yet but isolated rain showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening will become more frequent, the weather bureau said.
Aldczar Aurelio, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said rainy season is about to set in, manifested by the frequent rain showers and thunderstorms, “but the exact date as to when it will begin has yet to be known.
Last year, rainy season officially began on June 10. The criteria that determine the onset of rainy season this year have not been met yet, Aurelio said.
The requirements for the declaration of rainy season are, three consecutive days of at least 1 mm of rainfall each day; five consecutive days with a total of 25 mm or more; five of the 10 weather stations in the country have satisfied the rainfall criteria, i.e. Metro Manila must at least have two of the three stations that meet the first criterion, and prevailing winds over the western Philippines must have southwesterly component that comes from the West Philippine Sea.
Field weather stations are located in Laoag (Ilocos Norte), Vigan (Ilocos Sur), Iba (Zambales), Dagupan (Pangasinan), San Jose (Mindoro), Ambulong (Mindoro), Baguio City, Cabanatuan (Nueva Ecija), Metro Manila, and Iloilo.
This Wednesday, two weather systems will prevail over the country. The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) will affect Southern Mindanao and a ridge of high pressure area (HPA) will continue to bring “fair weather” across Luzon.
PAGASA said Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, and Sarangani will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms.
Meanwhile, Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.
PAGASA said light to moderate winds coming from the southeast to south will prevail over Northern Luzon, and from the east to southeast over the rest of Luzon and Visayas.
Light to moderate rains will come from the east and southeast over Mindanao.
It said the coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate.