Normally typhoon-free Mindanao suffers 3rd cyclone in 2013

(Updated 5:50 p.m.) Weather disturbances are usually unheard of in Mindanao, especially at this time of year. But these are no longer ordinary times. Three storms have already hit the country's south in 2013, including Tropical Depression Crising which made landfall over Davao del Sur at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Two of the deadliest storms to strike the Philippines in the last two years,  "Sendong" and "Pablo," barreled through Mindanao and away from the usual typhoon belt of Samar heading north to Luzon. Auring and Bising were the first cyclones to hammer Mindanao this year. Crising-induced flooding prompted evacuations in Davao. As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, at least one person was killed while two others were reported injured due to the weather disturbance.

Nathaniel Cruz, GMA News' resident meteorologist, said that frequent weather disturbances in Mindanao, especially during the first few months of the year, are highly "unusual."

 

"Ang pagkakaroon ng bagyo sa Mindanao ngayong Pebrero, ito'y hindi pangkaraniwan. Kung mapapansin niyo, noong Enero, nagkaroon din ng dalawang bagyo na tumama sa Mindanao," Cruz said in an interview with news anchor Howie Severino over GMA News TV's "News To Go."

 

He added that historically, cyclones only hit Mindanao once every 10 years on the average.

 

Last year, the first three weather disturbances to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility-- cyclones Ambo, Butchoy and Carina — all affected parts of Luzon.  

 

"Change in weather pattern" Meanwhile, Thelma Cinco, climatologist from PAGASA, said that the recent destructive cyclones to hit Mindanao "clearly shows a change in weather pattern" in the area.

 

"It is really rare to have tropical cyclones in that part of the country, but now, we have three cyclones in two months," Cinco said in a separate interview.

 

She even recalled that before the turn of the millennium, the only destructive cyclone to hit Mindanao was Tropical Depression Titang, which left over 600 people dead in the area during the 1970s.   

Cinco, however, said that Mindanao cannot be currently considered as a typhoon "hot spot" despite the change in weather pattern the area has been recently experiencing.

 

"We could not say that yet. We don't see a clear trend as of now," she said.

 

Cruz, for his part, also explained that the three straight cyclones to affect Mindanao this year do not mean that the area will experience the most number of weather disturbances. 

 

"Hindi naman nangangahulugan na sa mga susunod pang taon na lagi na lang babagyuhin ang Mindanao," he said.

 

Both experts, however, agreed that climate change could be the reason behind this shift in weather pattern in Mindanao.

 

"Isang dahilan siguro, climate change siguro, pero hindi pa tayo sigurado kung ano talaga ang pinaka-main reason," Cruz said. — RSJ/HS/TJD, GMA News