AN unidentified father uses an umbrella to protect his family from the scorching heat of the sun.
While the Caribbean is getting pummeled by monster Hurricane Irma, it will be mostly sunny in Cebu today and up to the weekend.
The Mactan bureau of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said fine weather is expected to prevail in Metro Cebu up to Saturday as Tropical Storm Kiko (international name: Guchol) goes out of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, Tropical Storm Kiko was estimated based on all available data at 215 km west-northwest of Basco, Batanes, with maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph. It is forecast to move north-northwest at 17 kph.
Alice Canapa, weather specialist of Pagasa-Mactan, told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview yesterday that Kiko was expected to be out of the PAR by today.
Canapa said high daytime temperature is likewise expected in Metro Cebu throughout September, which usually marks the start of the cold or “ber” months.
Yesterday, the highest temperature recorded in Cebu City was at 32 degree Celsius at around 11 a.m., amid a partly cloudy weather.
“The high temperature is brought by the prevailing habagat (southwest monsoon),” Canapa added.
Canapa explained that the heavy downpour that occurred in Metro Cebu over the past two days was spawned by Kiko, which developed from a low-pressure area 490 kilometers east of Baler, Aurora, into a tropical depression last Monday.
“But since the tropical storm is going out of PAR, we can only expect isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms in the next days (up to Saturday). Aside from that, our weather will be fine. As of now, we haven’t spotted any nearby weather disturbance,” Canapa said.
She explained that the isolated weather disturbances resulted from the prevailing southwest monsoon.
“We have a southwest monsoon affecting some areas in Metro Cebu, and is expected to last up to October,” stated Canapa.
Pagasa-Mactan also issued rainstorm and thunderstorm advisories for the southern towns of Ginatilan and Samboan at around 4 p.m. yesterday, which lasted for one to two hours.
According to Canapa, 7.6 millimeter (mm) of rainwater was recorded by Pagasa-Mactan since heavy rainfalls occurred on September 5 and 6. The average rainfall for Metro Cebu for the month of September is at 178.2 mm.