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Pagasa: El Niño to affect RP climate till June; Capiz under drought


The El Niño phenomenon has triggered a drought in Capiz province and caused dry spells in many other areas, and may affect the country’s climate throughout the first half of 2010, state weather forecasters said. But the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said there is a small chance of at least one cyclone occurring this month. “Weather systems that will likely influence the climate for January 2010 are the northeast monsoon, the tail-end of the cold front, ridge of HPA (high pressure area), easterly wave, and a slim chance of occurrence of one tropical cyclone. Most parts of Luzon and Visayas will likely experience below normal rainfall condition," it said in an advisory. It added that portions of western, central and eastern Mindanao are expected to have drier conditions except the southern part, which is likely to experience near normal rainfall. Pagasa said Capiz is already under drought condition as it experienced five consecutive months from August to December with below normal rainfall. The number of areas that experienced dry spells have increased, including Benguet, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Batangas, Aurora, Quezon, Marinduque, Mindoro, Romblon, Sorsogon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Northern Samar, Aklan, Guimaras, Biliran, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat. "These areas exhibited three to four consecutive months of below normal rainfall condition," it said. Pagasa also said Northern Samar is in near-drought condition, and is likely to experience below normal rainfall for five consecutive months. For January, Pagasa said near normal to slightly warmer surface air temperatures is expected in Luzon while warmer than normal temperatures are likely over most areas of Visayas and Mindanao. Pagasa noted the El Niño weather phenomenon, characterized by low rainfall and dry spells, was already felt last December. It said that in December 2009, weather systems that prevailed included the northeast monsoon, the tail-end of a cold front, ridge of HPA and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Tropical Depression Vinta (December 02-03), which just passed through the northeastern border of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), did not affect the country, it noted. "Rainfall condition for the month of December was unusually way below normal in most areas of Luzon. Likewise, Western Visayas experienced way below normal rainfall, while the central and eastern portions experienced below to near normal conditions. Greater portions of Mindanao experienced below normal rainfall condition and only the eastern and western portions showed near normal rainfall values. These are clear manifestations of the impacts of El Niño in the country," it said. It added average air temperatures for the month were near normal in most parts of Luzon while most areas of Visayas and Mindanao experienced above normal surface air temperature. - LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV