NOTES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Climate of the Philippines

The Climate of the Philippines is either tropical rainforest, tropical savanna or tropical monsoon, or humid subtropical (in higheraltitude areas) characterized by relatively high temperature, oppressive humidity and plenty of rainfall. There are two seasons in the country, the wet season and the dry season, based upon the amount of rainfall.[1] This is dependent as well on your location in the country as some areas experience rain all throughout the year (see Climate Types). Based on temperature, the seven warmest months of the year are from March to October; the winter monsoon brings cooler air from November to February. May is the warmest month, and January, the coolest.[2] Weather in the Philippines is monitored and managed by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (known locally by its acronym, PAGASA).

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Rainfall

PAGASA Rainfall Warning System (RWS)

Evening Thunderstorms, bringing rain over the Philippines is common from March to October. The summer monsoon brings heavy rains to most of the archipelago from May to October. Annual average rainfall ranges from as much as 5,000 millimetres (196.9 in) in the mountainous east coast section of the country, to less than 1,000 millimetres (39.4 in) in some of the sheltered valleys. Monsoon rains, although hard and drenching, are not normally associated with high winds and waves. At least 30 percent of the annual rainfall in the northern Philippines can be traced to tropical cyclones, while the southern islands receiving less than 10 percent of their annual rainfall from tropical cyclones. The wettest known tropical cyclone to impact the archipelago was the July
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1911 cyclone, which dropped over 1,168 millimetres (46.0 in) of rainfall within a 24-hour period in Baguio City.[3]

Temperature
The average year-round temperature measured from all the weather stations in the Philippines, except Baguio City, is 26.6 C (79.9 F). Cooler days are usually felt in the month of January with temperature averaging at 25.5 C (77.9 F) and the warmest days, in the month of May with a mean of 28.3 C (82.9 F).[1] Elevation factors significantly in the variation of temperature in the Philippines. In Baguio City, with an elevation of 1,500 m (5,000 ft) above sea level, the mean average is 18.3 C (64.9 F) or cooler by about 4.3 C (15 F). In 1915, a one-year study was conducted by William H. Brown of the Philippine Journal of Science on top of Mount Banahaw at 2,100 m. (6,900 ft) elevation. The mean temperature measured was 18.6 C (65.5 F), a difference of 10 C (21.6 F) from the lowland mean temperature.[4]

Typhoons
The Philippines sit astride the typhoon belt, and the country suffers an annual onslaught of dangerous storms from July through October. These are especially hazardous for northern and eastern Luzon and the Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions, but Manila gets devastated periodically as well. Typhoon Bopha, a powerful, unusual, late season typhoon which hit the Philippines in December 2012 Bagy is the local term to any tropical cyclone in the Philippine Islands.[3] From the statistics gathered by PAGASA from 1948 to 2004, around an average of 20 storms and/or typhoons per year enter the PAR (Philippine Area of Responsibility) - the designated area assigned to PAGASA to monitor during weather disturbances. Those that made landfall or crossed the Philippines, the average was nine per year. In 1993, a record 19 typhoons made landfall in the country making it the most in one year. The least amount per year were 4 during the years 1955, 1958, 1992 and 1997.[5] PAGASA categorises typhoons into four types according to wind speed. Once a tropical cyclone enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility, regardless of strength, PAGASA gives it a local name for identification purposes by the media, government, and the general public.[6]

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Tropical Depressions have maximum sustained winds of between 55 kilometres per hour (30 kn) and 64 kilometres per hour (35 kn) near its center. Tropical Storms have maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometres per hour (35 kn) and 119 kilometres per hour (64 kn). Typhoons achieve maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres per hour (65 kn) to 185 kilometres per hour (100 kn),[7] Super typhoons having maximum winds exceeding 185 kilometres per hour (100 kn).[8]

Deadliest storm The deadliest typhoon to impact the Philippines was Typhoon Uring (Thelma) in November 1991, in which 5,080 lives were lost from its resultant flooding and over 1,200 went missing.[5][9] Strongest typhoons The highest wind velocity recorded for a typhoon that crossed the Philippines was recorded in Virac on November 30, 2006 when Typhoon Reming (Durian) had a peak gust of 320 km/h (198 mph).[5]

Climate types
There are four recognized climate types in the Philippines, and they are based on the distribution of rainfall (See the Philippine Climate Map). They are described as follows:[1]

Type I. Two pronounced season: dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year. Type II. No dry season with a pronounced rainfall from November to January. Type III. Seasons are not very pronounced, relatively dry from November to April, and wet during the rest of the year. Type IV. Rainfall is more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.

Representative cities
Type I: Limay, Bataan
Climate data for Limay, Bataan Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
31.3 (88.3) 27.7 (81.9) 24.1 30.8 (87.4) 27.4 (81.3) 24.0

Month

Sep
31.1 (88) 27.6 (81.7) 24.0

Oct Nov Dec

31.0 31.2 30.3 (87.8 (88.2) (86.5) )

Year
31.73 (89.1)

Average 30.2 31.1 32.8 34.3 34.2 32.4 high C (F) (86.4) (88) (91) (93.7) (93.6) (90.3) Daily mean 25.6 26.1 29.1 29.5 28.4 (81.7 C (F) (78.1) (79) (84.4) (85.1) (83.1)
) 27.6

26.9 27.3 26.0 27.43 (80.4 (81.1) (78.8) (81.38) ) 23.5 22.8 21.6 23.14

Average low 20.9

21.1 22.5

24.0

24.8

24.4

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C (F)

(69.6) (70) (72.5 (75.2) (76.6) )

(75.9)

(75.4)

(75.2)

(75.2)

(74.3) (73) (70.9) (73.65)

Precipitatio 6.3 3.3 7.1 9.3 100.4 272.7 341.2 398.3 326.0 230.0 120.4 48.8 1,863.8 n mm (0.248 (0.13 (0.28 (0.366 (3.953 (10.736 (13.433 (15.681 (12.835 (9.055 (4.74 (1.921 (73.378 (inches) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )
Avg. rainy days
1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 7.0 14.0 16.0 19.0 17.0 13.0 9.0 5.0 104

Source: Hong Kong Observatory[10]

Type II: Borongan

Climate data for Borongan, Eastern Samar Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Nov Dec Year Month Record high 33 31 33 32 35 36 35 37 35 35 34 33 37 C (F) (91) (88) (91) (90) (95) (97) (95) (99) (95) (95) (93) (91) (99) Average 28 28 29 31 31 32 32 32 32 31 30 30 30.5 high C (F) (82) (82) (84) (88) (88) (90) (90) (90) (90) (88) (86) (86) (87) Average low 21 21 21 22 23 24 24 24 24 24 23 22 22.8 C (F) (70) (70) (70) (72) (73) (75) (75) (75) (75) (75) (73) (72) (72.9) Record low 14 14 16 16 17 20 22 21 21 21 19 17 14 C (F) (57) (57) (61) (61) (63) (68) (72) (70) (70) (70) (66) (63) (57) Precipitation 640 430 320 260 240 230 180 140 180 330 530 640 4,120 mm (inches) (25.2) (16.93) (12.6) (10.24) (9.45) (9.06) (7.09) (5.51) (7.09) (12.99) (20.87) (25.2) (162.23)
Source: Weatherbase[11]

Type III: Cebu City

Climate data for Cebu Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Month Average high C 29.8 30.2 31.2 32.3 33.0 32.1 31.7 31.9 31.7 31.6 31.2 30.3 31.42 (F) (85.6) (86.4) (88.2) (90.1) (91.4) (89.8) (89.1) (89.4) (89.1) (88.9) (88.2) (86.5) (88.56) Daily mean C 26.8 27.0 27.8 28.8 29.4 28.7 28.3 28.4 28.3 28.1 27.9 27.3 28.07 (F) (80.2) (80.6) (82) (83.8) (84.9) (83.7) (82.9) (83.1) (82.9) (82.6) (82.2) (81.1) (82.5) Average low C 23.8 23.7 24.4 25.4 25.9 25.3 24.9 25.0 24.8 24.7 24.7 24.2 24.73 (F) (74.8) (74.7) (75.9) (77.7) (78.6) (77.5) (76.8) (77) (76.6) (76.5) (76.5) (75.6) (76.52) Rainfall mm 110 70 20 30 70 170 180 110 160 200 110 110 1,540 (inches) (4.33) (2.76) (0.79) (1.18) (2.76) (6.69) (7.09) (4.33) (6.3) (7.87) (4.33) (4.33) (60.63)
Source: Weatherbase [10]

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Type IV: General Santos

Climate data for General Santos Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Oct Nov Dec Year Month Jan Record high 40 37 38 38 40 42 40 37 40 38 38 37 42 C (F) (104) (99) (100) (100) (104) (108) (104) (99) (104) (100) (100) (99) (108) Average 31 31 32 32 31 30 30 30 30 31 31 31 30.8 high C (F) (88) (88) (90) (90) (88) (86) (86) (86) (86) (88) (88) (88) (87.7) Average low 23 24 25 25 25 25 24 24 24 24 24 24 24.3 C (F) (73) (75) (77) (77) (77) (77) (75) (75) (75) (75) (75) (75) (75.5) Record low 18 18 20 20 17 21 20 19 20 21 21 21 17 C (F) (64) (64) (68) (68) (63) (70) (68) (66) (68) (70) (70) (70) (63) Precipitation 750 500 110 160 280 400 390 310 260 340 260 460 4,220 mm (inches) (29.53) (19.69) (4.33) (6.3) (11.02) (15.75) (15.35) (12.2) (10.24) (13.39) (10.24) (18.11) (166.15)
Source: Weatherbase[11]

Special: Baguio
Climate data for Baguio Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Month Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high 26 27 27 28 27 26 26 26 26 27 26 26 28 C (F) (79) (81) (81) (82) (81) (79) (79) (79) (79) (81) (79) (79) (82) Average 22 22 24 25 24 23 21 21 21 22 23 23 22.6 high C (F) (72) (72) (75) (77) (75) (73) (70) (70) (70) (72) (73) (73) (72.7) Average low 11 13 14 15 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 13 14.5 C (F) (52) (55) (57) (59) (61) (61) (61) (59) (59) (59) (59) (55) (58.1) Record low 6 8 11 10 13 11 12 12 13 11 9 7 6 C (F) (43) (46) (52) (50) (55) (52) (54) (54) (55) (52) (48) (45) (43) Precipitation 20 20 40 100 400 430 1,070 1,160 710 380 120 50 4,500 mm (inches) (0.79) (0.79) (1.57) (3.94) (15.75) (16.93) (42.13) (45.67) (27.95) (14.96) (4.72) (1.97) (177.17)
Source: Weatherbase[11]

Humidity
Relative humidity is high in the Philippines. A high amount of moisture or vapor in the air makes hot temperatures feel hotter. This quantity of moisture is due to different factors - the extraordinary evaporation from the seas that surrounds the country on all sides, to the different prevailing winds in the different seasons of the year, and finally, to the abundant rains so common in a tropical country. The first may be considered as general causes of the great humidity, which is generally observed in all the islands throughout the year. The last two may influence the different degree of humidity for the different months of the year and for the different regions of the Archipelago.[12]
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In the cooler months, even though the rains are more abundant in the eastern part of the Philippines, owing to the prevailing northeasterly winds, the humidity is lesser than in the western part where a dry season prevails. From June to October, although the rains are quite general throughout the Archipelago, the rains are more abundant in the western part of the Philippines, which is more exposed to the prevailing westerly and southwesterly winds; hence the humidity of the air is greater there than in the eastern part of the Archipelago. The least comfortable months are from March to May where temperature and humidity attain their maximum levels.

Seasons
PAGASA divides the climate of the country into two main seasons--rainy and dry--with the dry season further subdivided into two: Using temperature and rainfall as bases, the climate of the country can be divided into two major seasons: (1) the rainy season, from June to November; and (2) the dry season, from December to May. The dry season may be subdivided further into (a) the cool dry season, from December to February; and (b) the hot dry season, from March to May.[13] Graphically the seasons can be represented this way: Month Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Rainfall DRY RAINY Temperature COOL HOT
Key: Yellow-Dry; Green-Rainy; Blue-Cool; Red-Hot

The months of April and May, the hot and dry months [13] when schools are on their long, between-years break, is referred to as summer while in most of the Northern Hemisphere those months are part of spring.

References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. ^ a b c Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. "Climate of the Philippines". Retrieved on 2010-06-26. ^ "Meteorology of the Philippines". Nature, Vol.107. Retrieved on 2010-06-26. ^ a b Glossary of Meteorology. Baguio. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. ^ Coronas, Rev. Jose, "The Climate and Weather of the Philippines, 1903 to 1918", p.53. Manila Bureau of Printing, 1920. ^ a b c Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. "Tropical Cyclone Statistics". Retrieved on 2010-06-26.

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6.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

^ Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Hurricane Research Division. "Frequently Asked Questions: What are the upcoming tropical cyclone names?". NOAA. Retrieved 2006-12-11. ^ National Weather Service (September 2006). "Hurricanes... Unleashing Nature's Fury: A Preparedness Guide" (PDF). NOAA. Retrieved 2006-12-02. ^ Bouchard, R. H. (April 1990). "A Climatology of Very Intense Typhoons: Or Where Have All the Super Typhoons Gone?" (PPT). Retrieved 2006-12-05. ^ Leoncio A. Amadore, Ph.D. Socio-Economic Impacts of Extreme Climatic Events in the Philippines. Retrieved on 2007-02-25. ^ a b "Climatological Information for Manila, Philippines". Hong Kong Observatory. Retrieved 10 October 2011. ^ a b c "Weatherbase: Weather for Borongan, Philippines". Weatherbase. 2011. Retrieved on November 22, 2011. ^ Coronas, Rev. Jose, "The Climate and Weather of the Philippines, 1903 to 1918", p.125. Manila Bureau of Printing, 1920. ^ a b "Climate of the Philippines". Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Retrieved 2011-05-28.

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