Heat index may reach up to 50°C in some parts of PH amid dry season —PAGASA

State weather bureau PAGASA on Thursday said that up to 50 degrees Celsius (°C) heat index may be experienced in some parts of the country during the dry season this year.

“Yung sa ating two-day outlook dito sa Metro Manila, inaasahan natin posibleng pumalo ng hanggang 41 degrees Celsius,” PAGASA assistant weather services chief Chris Perez told Unang Balita in an interview.

(In our two-day outlook here in Metro Manila, we expect it to possibly hit up to 41°C.)

“Pero sa ibang bahagi ng ating bansa, of course, we're not ruling out the possibility na maybe 'yung highest natin during the duration of this dry season sa ating bansa ay posibleng umabot po ng mula 48°C hanggang 50°C,” he added.

(But in other parts of our country, of course, we're not ruling out the possibility that maybe our highest heat index during the duration of this dry season in our country could possibly reach 48°C to 50°C.)

The highest heat index may be felt around April or May, according to Perez.

Asked if the Philippines will experience heat waves this dry season, Perez said that the abnormal increase of daily temperature usually happens in mid-latitude areas experiencing four seasons.

“Yung heat wave kasi usually dalawa hanggang tatlong araw na tataas ang daytime temperature mo ng at least 0.5°C or higher,” Perez said.

(A heat wave is usually two to three days of daytime temperature increasing by at least 0.5°C or higher.)

“Dito naman sa atin kasi sa Pilipinas, all throughout the year, naka-expose po tayo sa init ng araw. So kung magkaroon man minimal changes in the daytime temperature, ay hindi po natin agad-agad na mararamdaman. Kumbaga, hindi natin maka-classify as nakakaranas po tayo ng heat wave,” he added.

(Here in the Philippines, we are exposed to the heat of the sun all year round. So even if there are minimal changes in the daytime temperature, we won’t feel it right away. So, we can’t classify it as experiencing a heat wave.)

Perez said that hotter days are expected in the country even at night with the start of the dry season.

PAGASA on Wednesday officially declared the start of the dry season with the termination of the Northeast Monsoon or Amihan over most parts of the country.

“The shift of wind direction from northeasterly to easterly due to the establishment of the High Pressure Area (HPA) over the Northwestern Pacific signifies the termination of the Northeast Monsoon over most parts of the country and the start of the dry season,” PAGASA said.

PAGASA, however, noted that extreme Northern Luzon may still experience occasional northeasterly winds.

“With this development, the day-to-day weather across the country will gradually become warmer, though isolated thunderstorms are also likely to occur,” PAGASA added.

Due to this, PAGASA advised the public to take precautionary measures to ease heat stress and improve the daily use of water for personal and domestic consumption.—AOL, GMA Integrated News