he southwest monsoon or habagat has slightly weakened as monsoon break prevails, bringing generally fair Monday weather in most parts of the country, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Pagasa weather specialist Chenel Dominguez said that habagat only prevails in western section of northern and central Luzon.
‘If we observe, we have already announced the start of the rainy season, but we are still experiencing hot and humid noon to afternoon conditions in large parts of the country,’ Dominguez said in a public weather forecast.
‘This is because of what we call a monsoon break, or sometimes the weakening of the southwest monsoon, which only affects certain parts of the country,’ she continued.
Habagat only prevails in the Ilocos Region and Zambales, bringing cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms.
On the other hand, Metro Manila and the rest of the country is expected to have a fair weather or partly cloudy to cloudy skies with possibility of isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.
Pagasa announced the start of rainy season in the country last week, or days after it declared the onset of habagat, or the warm moist winds from the Indian Ocean causing rains in the country within May to September.
The state weather bureau also said that monsoon breaks, or periods of reduced rainfall, may be expected to occur or last for several days or weeks.