DRY SPELL. The head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Visayas Station in Mactan Island said the El Niño phenomenon will last until the second quarter of 2024 based on the latest climate forecast. This as forecast for the dry spell’s impact has been changed from moderate to strong. (PNA file photo)
CEBU CITY – A climate forecast showed that the El Niño phenomenon would last until the second quarter of 2024, the head of the weather bureau’s Mactan Island office said on Tuesday.
Engineer Alfredo Quiblat Jr., head of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Visayas Station in Mactan Island, reported that apart from the elongated period of the oceanographic and meteorological phenomenon, it has also been upgraded in November this year from moderate to strong.
“It was upgraded from moderate to strong because of the continuing increase of the sea surface temperature anomaly in the central-eastern Pacific by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. When we say anomaly, it means the difference between the normal and current temperature of the seas,” he said during the Open Line News Forum here Tuesday.
He said the category is designated as “strong” if the heat factor reaches beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The chief weather specialist in the region, however, said the intensified El Niño is a recurring phenomenon but does not have a pattern on when to occur in a given cycle of year or years.
The hot weather season, he said, would usually last from seven to 18 months.
“Let’s all be warned that the impact of El Niño would bring a heightened possibility of below-normal rainfall conditions in many parts of the Philippines, including Central Visayas,” Quiblat added.
The Department of Science and Technology-attached weather bureau will hold a climate forum on Dec. 20 to assess the impact of the ongoing warm current (El Niño) that greatly affects farmlands across the country. (PNA)
