The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) officially declared Friday the start of the rainy season in the country, citing the passage of TS Dante and the occurrence of widespread rainfalls.
In a press statement, the weather bureau said that the rainfall in the past five days for areas under Type I climate confirmed the start of the rainy season, especially in the western section of the country.
“Intermittent rains, associated with the southwest monsoon will continue to affect Metro Manila and the western section of the country,” it stated.
PAGASA said that there is a high probability of above-normal rainfall conditions to be experienced in the months of June and July.
While the breaks in rainfall events or the monsoon breaks, which can last for several days or weeks, may still occur.
On the other hand, Dante has downgraded into a tropical depression and re-entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Friday afternoon at the western side of Batanes.
Dante was located at 210 kilometers (km) west-northwest of Basco Batanes or 185 km West of Itbayat, Batanes and is moving northeastward at 10 kilometers per hour (kph). It has maximum sustained winds of 55 kph and gustiness of up to 70 kph.
Based on the 24-hour forecast position, Dante is expected to exit PAR on Saturday afternoon at 685 km northeast of Itbayat, Batanes and will downgrade into a low-pressure area.
“Dahil sa muling pagpasok nitong bagyong Dante at ang kalapitan nito sa Batanes area ay itinaas natin ang babala ng bagyo bilang isa diyan sa probinsya ng Batanes. Ibayong pag-iingat at paghahanda sa mga kababayan natin lalo na sa mga papalaot na may maliliit na sasakyang-pandagat, huwag muna pumalaot sa mga baybayin ng Batanes dahil sa inaasahan natin na malalaking pag-alon,” weather specialist Raymond Ordinario said.
The tropical cyclone is forecast to transition into an extratropical cyclone on Saturday over the East China Sea, PAGASA said.
