CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES
Evening Thunderstorms, bringing rain over the Philippines is
common from March to October.
Climate of the Philippines is either tropical rainforest, tropical
savanna, tropical monsoon, or humid subtropical (in higher-
altitude 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. This is dependent as well on
your location in the country as some areas experience rainfall
throughout the year. 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.
Weather in the Philippines is monitored and managed by
the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration (usually referred by its acronym,
PAGASA).
The summer monsoon brings heavy rains to most of
the archipelago from May to October. Annual average rast
known tropical cyclone to impact the archipelago was the July
1911 cyclone, which dropped over 1,168 millimetres (46.0 in)
of rainfall within a 24-hour period in Baguio City.
TYPHOONS
TYPHOONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
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. Bagyó is the
local term to any tropical cyclone in the Philippine Islands. 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.
PAGASA categorizes typhoons into five 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.
Tropical Depressions have maximum sustained winds of
between 30 kilometers per hour (16 kn) and 60 kilometers
per hour (32 kn) near its center.
Tropical Storms have maximum sustained winds of 61
kilometers per hour (33 kn) and 88 kilometers per hour
(48 kn).
Severe Tropical Storms have maximum sustained winds of
89 kilometers per hour (48 kn) and 117 kilometers per hour
(63 kn).
Typhoons achieve maximum sustained winds of 118
kilometers per hour (64 kn) to 219 kilometers per hour
(118 kn),
Super Typhoons achieve maximum sustained winds of
more than 220 kilometers per hour (120 kn).
Deadliest storm
The deadliest typhoon to impact the Philippines was Typhoon
Yolanda in November 8, 2013, in which 6, 800 lives were lost
from its storm surges and powerful winds. Over 1,000 went
missing and nearly 20,000 were injured.
Public Storm Warning System
For the past ten years, the Philippines has experienced a
number of extremely damaging tropical cyclones, particularly
typhoons with more than 220 km/h (140 mph) of sustained
winds.Because of this, the Super Typhoon (STY) category with
more than 220 km/h maximum sustained winds was officially
adopted by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) last year.
However, according to different stakeholders, the extensive
and devastating damages caused by strong typhoons such
as Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 made the four-level warning
system (PSWS) Numbers 1-4 inadequate. With this
development and to give emphasis in warning for Super
Typhoon, the warning system is modified and reconstructed as
follows:
Signal No. 1 - winds of 30–60 km/h and expected in 36 hrs
on 1st issuance.
Signal No. 2 - winds of 60–120 km/h and expected in 24
hrs on 1st issuance.
Signal No. 3 - winds of 120–170 km/h and expected in 18
hrs on 1st issuance.
Signal No. 4 - winds of 170–220 km/h and expected in 12
hrs on 1st issuance.
Signal No. 5 - winds more than 220 km/h and expected in
12 hrs on 1st issuance.
Strongest typhoons
The strongest storm that hit the Philippines was Typhoon
Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda. Winds reached 315 km/h in
1-min sustained and may have been the strongest storm in
history in terms of wind speeds as wind speeds before the
1970s were too high.
In terms of central pressure, Typhoon Megi (2010) measured
885 mb. With this, this is the strongest storm ever to make
landfall in terms of pressure.
CLIMATE TYPES
Philippine Climate Map
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). Elevation factors significantly in the variation of
temperature in the Philippines. In Baguio City, with an
elevation of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level, the mean
average is 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) or cooler by about 4.3 °C (40 °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 (18 °F) from the
lowland mean temperature.
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.
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:
(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.
The months of April and May, the hot and dry months 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.
Graphically the seasons can be represented this way:
December– March– June– September–
Month
February May August November
Rainfall DRY RAINY
Temperature COOL HOT
Hot
Season Cool Dry Rainy
Dry
CLIMATE TYPES IN THE PHILIPPINES, ANNUAL RAINFALL AND
TYPHOON FREQUENCY BY REGION
There are four climate types in the Philippines according to the
Modified Corona's Classification of Climate. These are the Types
I, II, III, and IV.
Type I. Two pronounced seasons: dry from November to
April and wet during the rest of the year.
Regions with Type I climate: Ilocos Region, western part of
Mountain Province, western part of Nueva Ecija, Central
Luzon, Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Tarlac,
Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Zambales, Occidental
Mindoro, southern parts of Antique and Iloilo,
northwestern part of Palawan, and the southern parts of
Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental).
Type II. No dry season with a very pronounced maximum
rain period from December to February. There is not a
single dry month. Minimum monthly rainfall occurs during
the period from March to May.
Regions with Type II climate: northern part of Kalinga
Apayao, northwestern part of Cagayan, western part of
Quezon Province, Polillo Island, Bicol Region, northeastern
Samar, southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur,
Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, and Misamis Occidental.
Type III. Seasons are not very pronounced, relatively dry
from November to April, and wet during the rest of the
year.
No very pronounced maximum rain period, with a short
dry season lasting only from one to three months, either
during the period from December to February or from
March to May. This climate type resembles type I since it
has a short dry season.
Regions with Type III climate: northeastern part of Ilocos
Norte, Kalinga-Apayao, Cagayan, Mountain Province,
western part of Isabela, eastern part of Nueva Viscaya,
Bulacan, eastern parts of Laguna and Batangas, Oriental
Mindoro, Romblon, Marinduque, Aklan, Capiz, northern
parts of Antique and Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Siquijor,
Zamboanga del Sur, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Bukidnon,
Misamis Oriental, western part of Agusan del Sur, Lanao
del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, western part of
Agusan del Sur, and eastern Maguindanao.
Type IV. Rainfall is more or less evenly distributed
throughout the year. This climate type resembles the
second type more closely since it has no dry season.
Regions with Type IV climate: northern Kalinga-Apayao,
eastern Cagayan, Isabela, Quezon Province, western part
of Bicol Region, western Samar, southeastern Masbate,
northern Leyte, northern part of Cebu, Bohol, Zamboanga
del Sur, northern-eastern part of Zamboanga del Norte,
Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Davao
del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, eastern parts of
Agusan del Norte, and Agusan del Sur.
This system of climate classification was devised by Fr. J.
Corona in 1920 (Lantican 2001) and is based on average
monthly rainfall. Accordingly, a dry month is one with less than
50 mm of rainfall but also considers dry a month having more
than 100 mm of rainfall that comes after three or more very dry
months.
Country-wide, the Philippines has a tropical climate with a
relatively high temperature and humidity having abundant
rainfall. This climate is largely similar to those of countries in
Central America .
AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL AND TYPHOON FREQUENCIES
Concepcion (2004) provides the average annual rainfall and
typhoon frequencies in the following regions in the
Philippines:
REGION AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL(mm) TYPHOON FREQUENCY
CAR 2500-3600 2-2.5 times per year
Region I 2000-2750 1.7-2.5 times per year
Region II 1700-3000 1.7-2.5 times per year
Region III 1800-3800 1.7 times per year
Region IV 1550-3500 1.5 times per year
Region V 1450-3750 1.5 times per year
Region VI 2250-3350 once per year
Region VII 1350-1800 once per year
Region VIII 2850-3250 1.7 times per year
Region IX/ARMM 1750-2450 once in 12 years
Region X/CARAGA 2150-3650 once in 12 years to once per year
Region XI/CARAGA 800-4500 once in 12 years to once per year
Region XII/ARMM 1700-2250 once in 12 years
Philippines 800-4500 -
