The southwest monsoon or ‘habagat’ season this year has officially ended, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) announced Tuesday afternoon.
In an advisory, Pagasa said the country is now transitioning to the northeast monsoon or ‘amihan’ season, which it revealed will be observed and declared in the coming weeks.
The state weather bureau explained that ‘habagat’ brings warm, moist air with rain from the ocean, while the ‘amihan’ carries cool, and dry weather with slight rainfall.
‘Recent observations indicate that the southwest monsoon (habagat) has been weakening during the past few weeks,’ the state weather bureau further disclosed.
‘Forecast models also show this trend in the coming days. With these developments, the habagat season has officially ended. Likewise, this marks the termination of the rainy season over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas,’ it added.
A gradual change in the country’s weather pattern, Pagasa added, has been observed ‘due to the strengthening of the high-pressure system over East Asia and the southward migration of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).’
Based on Pagasa’s latest weather report, cloudy skies and rain are prevailing nationwide due to the combined effects of the northeasterly wind flow and the ITCZ. /gsg