PAGASA: Metro Manila logged over 100% increase in monthly rainfall average due to Habagat

The rains brought by the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat in the past days have pushed rainfall levels past 100% of the entire monthly average in Metro Manila, the state weather bureau PAGASA said on Thursday.

"Simula pa lang nung Monday, nung nag-uulan nang grabe, kung isusuma natin yung pag-ulan na natanggap ng Quezon City kumpara sa monthly normal rainfall na natatanggap nito sa buwan ng August, ay halos lumagpas na ng kalahati. Basically, more than a 100% na tayo ng natatanggap na pag-ulan sa Metro Manila, kumpara sa monthly average," said PAGASA Assistant Weather Services Chief Chris Perez in an interview with "Balitanghali."

(Since Monday, when it rained heavily, if we add up the rainfall received by Quezon City compared to the normal monthly rainfall it receives in the month of August, it has almost exceeded it by half. Basically, we have received more than 100% of rainfall in Metro Manila compared to the monthly average.)

PAGASA said that despite the light rains, the continuous downpours caused rivers to overflow.

"Kaya ito yung mga nag-resulta sa pagbaha. Alam natin na ilang linggo na tayo naguulan, bagaman hindi kalakasan, pero patuloy yung pagulan, may tendency talaga na umapaw ang lebel ng tubig sa ilog, then maipon, then papunta sa downstream, and then babahain yung mga low-lying areas," he said.

(This resulted in flooding. We know it has been raining for several weeks, although not very strong, but because the rain is continuous, there is really a tendency for the water level in rivers to overflow, then accumulate, then head downstream, and then flood the low-lying area.)

Following heavy downpours driven by the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat, PAGASA recorded 201.7 millimeters (mm) of rainfall in Metro Manila in just five hours on Monday, August 17.

Citing data from the PAGASA Science Garden Station in Quezon City, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said that the measurement was logged during a continuous downpour from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As of 2 p.m. of August 19, PAGASA data showed that the climatological normal rainfall for August is 568.5 mm. But the recorded accumulated rainfall was 1,143.3 mm.

There were three tropical cyclones that were enhancing the Habagat. However, Tropical Depression Neneng is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility later in the day, while a tropical depression is now outside the Tropical Cyclone Information Domain.

PAGASA said that the western portion of Luzon, including Metro Manila, will experience lighter rains in the coming days.

"Karaniwan ng mga lalawigan sa kanlurang bahagi ng Luzon, including Metro Manila, inaasahan pa rin natin magiging maulap at may mga pag-ulan pa rin, pabugso-bugsong pag-ulan. Pero hindi na gaya nung mga nagdaang araw dahil nakikita natin na bahagyang humihina na ang impluwensya ng mga iba't-ibang weather system sa kasalukuyang Habagat episode," said Perez.

(Most of the provinces in the western part of Luzon, including Metro Manila, are still expected to be cloudy with some rain—gusty, sporadic rains. But it won't be like the past few days because we see that the influence of the different weather systems on the current Habagat episode is slightly weakening.) —VAL/RSJ, GMA News