Dalaguete is known as the Vegetable Basket in Cebu province but the summer’s dry spell is giving farmers a hard time to grow their crops. (CDN PHOTO/APPLE MAE TA-AS)
After a spate of rain, Central Visayas will have sunny days starting yesterday until July 24, said a veteran weather official.
This was the forecast of Engr. Oscar Tabada, chief meteorologist of PAGASA Visayas, in an agricultural forum in Cebu City yesterday.
Because of the El Niño phenomenon, there will still be breaks of rain, he said. The rainy season started last June 23.
“It will be sunny, hot, and warm in the whole Central Visayas,” he said, with temperature ranging from 25 to 32 degrees celsius.
READ: Funds ready for LGUs affected by dry spell
He said a low pressure area is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), but it may not make landfall in the country.
The El Niño phenomenon started October last year and is expected to drag on till May 2016.
Tabada said due to the dry spell, the average number of tropical cyclones that will enter the PAR is fewer than the average of 20 typhoons a year.
@dost_pagasa Visayas Director Oscar Tabada asks the public to conserve water as El Niño will be felt until next year https://t.co/hzD4uqJjKO
— Cebu Daily News (@cebudailynews) July 14, 2015
But they are still potentially destructive so citizens still have to be vigilant.
Tabada said the El Niño phenomenon this year is moderate to strong compared to its impact in 2014.
With this, he encouraged everyone to conserve water.
READ: ‘Time to catch rain’
In the Capitol, Provincial Agriculturist Roldan Saragena said they will start water impounding projects next week in the southern municipalities of Sibonga, Samboan, Oslob, Argao, Alcoy, Alegria and Dalaguete.
Saragena said that during their discussion with the Municipal Agriculture Officers (MAO) last Monday, the water impounding facilities will act as mini-dams that can help store water and provide irrigation to farming communities during dry season.
Saragena said designs made by the engineering office were already finished./ UP Cebu Intern Mary Claire U. Catado