The northeast monsoon or “amihan” has officially started and will bring cold and dry air over the country, the state weather bureau announced Friday.
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in a released statement that strong to gale-force northeasterly winds have been observed prevailing in northern Luzon for the past several days.
It further explained that it is due to strengthening of the high-pressure system over Siberia and enhanced by passing tropical cyclones.
Moreover, gradual cooling of the surface air temperature over the northeastern part of Luzon has been observed.
These meteorological conditions indicate the onset of the northeast monsoon (amihan) season in the country, said PAGASA.
PAGASA stated that the northeast wind flow is expected to gradually become more dominant over northern Luzon bringing cold and dry air. Surges of cold temperature may also be expected in the coming months.
The weather bureau added that with the ongoing la niña, the northeast monsoon may enhance and trigger floods, flashfloods, and rain-induced landslides over susceptible areas.
Meanwhile, PAGASA earlier stated on its La Niña Advisory No. 2 released Thursday that la niña condition persists across the tropical pacific as sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) strengthened during the month.
Recent climate models predict a moderate to strong La Niña that will likely continue through February to April 2021 season.
La niña is usually associated with above normal rainfall conditions across most areas of the country during the last quarter of the year and early months of the following year.
Based on PAGASA’s outlook for November, the localized thundestorms, tail-end of cold front, low-pressure areas (LPAs), intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), easterlies, occurrence one to three tropical cyclones, and northeast monsoon are the weather systems that will likely affect the country.
“Rainfall forecast for the month show that most parts of country will likely experience near to above normal rainfall conditions with some patches of below normal rainfall,” PAGASA said.
