Pagasa: El Niño to stay until June

Saying El Niño will be here until June, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned government agencies to prepare for dry spells. In a report dated Jan. 10, Pagasa said El Niño will likely hit hardest the provinces in Northern Mindanao and small parts of northern Palawan. "Way-below normal rainfall are expected over some portions of northern Mindanao provinces and small patches of areas in northern Palawan. The rest of Luzon and portions of southern Mindanao are forecast to have normal rainfall conditions," it said. The weather bureau said various computer models of international climate centers indicate El Niño conditions will prevail in the Philippines in the first half of 2007. However, it said there is a probability of a tropical cyclone occurring within Philippine territory in January, but it did not say if this will mitigate the El Niño conditions. Pagasa said weather systems expected to affect the country for January are the northeast monsoon, tail-end of the cold front, inter-tropical convergence zone, and the easterly wave. "Current El Niño conditions are forecast to prevail through the next season and continue until the first half of 2007. All concerned government agencies are advised to continue implementing appropriate measures to mitigate the potential impacts of El Niño on agriculture, water resources, hydropower generation, health and sanitation, and other sectors," it said. On the other hand, Pagasa said much of the potential adverse impacts of the current El Niño have been alleviated by the interaction of oceanic and atmospheric systems which, in effect, favored the formation of rain-inducing clouds. It added the prevalence of warm sea surface temperatures over Philippine waters significantly contributed to this process and helped cause the occurrence of more rainfall in both seasonally dry and rainy areas. - GMANews.TV