PAGASA: El Niño to intensify on last quarter of 2023
The weak El Niño is starting to affect the farmlands in Central Visayas, including some areas in Cebu. | photo from Cebu.gov.ph
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), stationed in Mactan has advised Cebuanos to brace for the impact of El Niño in the last quarter of 2023.
The state-owned weather bureau released on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, an El Niño Advisory, announcing that El Niño is already present in the Tropical Pacific and will persist until the first quarter of 2024.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, July 5, Pagasa-Mactan chief Engr. Al Quiblat said that while it is still a weak El Niño for now, it is showing signs of strengthening in the coming months, particularly by November and December.
“Gahapon na meet naman niya ang criteria nga duna na g’yuy El Niño nahitabo didto sa Equatorial Pacific (Central and Eastern Pacific). Wala na sa atoa ha. So, nag issue na ang Pagasa ng El Niño Advisory,” Quiblat told CDN Digital.
An El Niño Advisory is the third level of Pagasa’s ENSO Warning System.
“Gihimo sa Pagasa nga maghimo og Advisory para mapangandaman ang iyang epekto o impact sa Pilipinas. Klaruhon ta ni nga El Niño nahitabo didto sa sentro ug silangang bahin sa Pacific Ocean, Western man ta. So, wala nato diri ang El Niño…Ang epekto sa El Niño nga tua didto maoy atong gi-anticipate. Ang epekto kuno, kakulangan sa ulan diri sa atoa [on] the last quarter of this year up to the first quarter of next year. Mao ng pangandaman nato,” he added.
READ: Pagasa issues El Niño Watch; urges public to prepare for warm, dry season
Photo screenshot from Pagasa’s official website as it monitors El Niño.
Pagasa said that El Niño increases the likelihood of below-normal rainfall conditions, which could bring negative impacts (such as dry spells and droughts) in some areas of the country.
With the weak El Niño, the country could still experience near-normal rainfall in July, August, September, and October, Pagasa added.
Meanwhile, based on Pagasa’s extended weather forecast, Metro Cebu and the rest of Cebu Province could expect a partly cloudy (to at times cloudy) sky condition with rain showers brought by localized thunderstorms and the prevailing Easterlies in the Visayas.
On early Wednesday morning, Pagasa recorded 26.44 millimeters of rain in two hours, which caused flooding in some areas in Cebu. /rcg
READ MORE:
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More hot days ahead as El Niño looms in the corner — Pagasa
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