PAGASA launches new forecast tools during Typhoon and Flood Awareness Week

PAGASA on Wednesday launched new innovations to strengthen the public's disaster preparedness as the country observes Typhoon and Flood Awareness Week.

In a press conference, the state weather bureau revealed three new products: the PAGASA Regional Services Division (PRSD) Websites, the PAGASA National Hydro-Met Observing Network (PANaHON), and the Chance of Rain Forecast Products.

“This is to emphasize the importance of early warning systems and early action in strengthening disaster preparedness to ensure the safety of the communities during the occurrences of floods and typhoons,” said PAGASA Administrator’s Office OIC Roy Badilla.

"Napaka-timely po nito ang ating pagla-launch ng ating new products or innovations… Ito po yung napaka-importante kasi marami po mga pagbabago dito sa ating products [The launch is so timely…This is very important because there a lot of changes have been made to the products]," he added.

Regional forecasts

The PAGASA regional websites (PSRD) have been updated for a uniformed user experience, providing localized forecasts from national up to provincial levels.

They will also show separate day and night forecasts at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily, as well as 5-day extended weather outlooks, thunderstorm information and warnings, and specialized forecasts.

“Pag mga national event, Weather Division ang may hawak, pero pagdating po sa mga per-region na mga event, PRSD na po ang mag-iissue [ng forecasts]. Meron na po tayong mga localized holidays, special locations of the region, and 'yung mga natural weather events such as volcanic eruptions,” said Weather Division Senior Weather Specialist Raymond Ordinario.

(For national events, Weather Division is in charge, but PRSD will issue the regional forecasts. We will now have localized holidays, special locations of the region, and natural weather events such as volcanic eruptions.)

PANaHON updates

The second innovation, the PAGASA National Hydro-Met Observing Network or PANaHON, shows live weather updates from several radar data satellites and weather stations through an interactive map.
PANaHON will provide real-time lightning updates, typhoon tracks, weather outlooks and rainfall warnings, and bulletins for floods and typhoons.

“Parang ginagawa natin siya one-stop shop that if you want to check the data, if you want to check the bulletins or the warnings, makikita na siya doon sa features ng PANaHON,” said Ordinaryo.

(It’s like a one-stop shop that if you want to check the data, if you want to check the bulletins or the warnings, you will see it in the features of PANaHON.)

“Pwede na talaga maglaro [sa website] yung user para makita niya yung iba't ibang datos na mayroon ang PAGASA, at yung pinaka key features talaga ng PANaHON tool natin is yung auto-updating. Ito ay combination ng automatic stations nag-update nearly hourly or yung10 minutes. Kapag nag-update na yung data, automatic na siyang makikita dito sa PANaHON tool natin,” he added.

(The user can now play [with the website] to see the different data from PAGASA, and the PANaHON tool’s key features are the auto-updating. This is a combination of automatic stations that update nearly hourly or every 10 minutes. If the data is updated, it’s automatically seen in the PANaHON tool.)

Rain forecasts

The third tool, the Chance of Rain Forecast, is a collaborative effort between PAGASA and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that forecasts the daily chance of rain in selected areas in the Philippines over the next five days.

Outlooks would be issued once a day at 8 a.m. through the PAGASA website.

“Yung atin po na chance of rain will be a numeric value of the likelihood na magkakaroon ng rain event. Yung probability na magkakaroon ng ulan na at least one millimeter na maeexpect within the day. Hindi natin ini-specify yung timing, sa gaanong intensity ng ulan, sa gaanong haba,” said Ordinaryo.

(Our chance of rain will be a numeric value of the likelihood that there will be a rain event. The probability that there will be rains of at least one millimeter that they can expect within the day. We don’t specify the timing or intensity, or how long it will last)

“Kapag nagselect ng area, lalabas na yung data ng forecast minimum and maximum temperature, the forecast weather and that chance of rain… Officially, si PAGASA po ay magbibigay na lang percent chance of rain,” he said.

(When you select an area, the data forecast minimum and maximum temperature, the forecast weather and the chance of rain will appear… Officially, PAGASA will provide the percent chance of rain)

PAGASA, at the moment, is focused on the chance of rain product, and is attempting to launch mobile-friendly websites for the innovation within the month of June. — BM, GMA Integrated News