Cebu’s weather to get better in the coming days

After days of having damp and rainy weather, Cebu will experience a fair weather condition with partly cloudy to cloudy skies in the next few days.

Meo Aguirre, weather specialist of Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Mactan station, said the prevailing southwest monsoon or Habagat, which has brought heavy rains throughout Visayas in the past days, is expected to go north and will strengthen in Luzon.

“Ang habagat kay mo intensify siya particularly in Luzon area. Mo improve na gyud ang weather diri. Mo init na ug isolated rainshowers na lang due to localized thunderstorm,” Aguirre said in a phone interview.

(The habagat will intensify particularly in the Luzon areas. The weather will finally improve in Cebu. It will be sunny with isolated rainshowers due to localized thunderstorms).

At least two Low Pressure Areas (LPAs) were also seen inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Thursday.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the weather disturbance was spotted at about 695 kilometers east northeast of Basco, Batanes. The system also recorded another LPA at 130 km west of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, according to Pagasa.

Aguirre, however, said the two LPAs would have no direct impact to Cebu.

But on Thursday, the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) announced on its Facebook page that a passenger vessel bound for Tagbilaran City in Bohol returned to the Cebu City port due to rough seas.

Meanwhile, Aguirre said that the rainfall level in Cebu this week was not enough despite the rainy weather experienced in the past few days.

As of Thursday, Aguirre said Pagasa Mactan recorded only about four milimeters of rainfall this week, which was way below the normal average of 50 mm per week.

He said Cebu would need at least 192.1 mm of rainfall for September to replenish groundwater sources.

He advised the public to start conserving water, especially that Pagasa has projected a 65- percent chance that Cebu would be hit by the El Niño weather phenomenon, characterized by a dry spell, by the end of this year.

“Magsugod na gyud tag alarma ug mangandam. Angay nata magtipid og tubig labi kay naa pay El Niño gipaabot,” he said.

(We should start to be alarmed and to prepare for the approaching dry spell. We should start conserving our water supply for the upcoming El Niño).