Weather and Climatic

Elements of Philippine
Archipelago
By: Everett Heart A. Pargad
WEATHER PATTERNS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Weather refers to the condition of a place in a short
period of time.

Places in the Philippines have different weather and

climate.
SEASONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
WET SEASON
Characterized by a pronounced rainy season with thunderstorm.
Starts in June and peaks in July to September and then
falls slowly towards the end of the year.
Precipitation is highest in the area where the southwest
monsoon strikes.
Temperature ranges from 30-36 degrees Celsius during
daytime and 21-28 degrees Celsius during nighttime.
SEASONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
DRY SEASON
Characterized by hot and cloudless days.
Between January and May, the climate is generally dry with
occasional rain showers, the peak of dry season is in April with
less rain showers.
Influenced by seasonal wind and the northeast monsoon –
Amihan.
Temperature ranges from 25-32 degrees Celsius during daytime
and 22 degrees Celsius at nighttime.
FACTORS AFFECTING SEASON OF THE
PHILIPPINES
1. LOCATION OF THE PHILIPPINES
Located a little north of the equator so it receives a vertical rays
of sunlight.
2. PREVAILING WINDS
 Blows mostly from a single direction.
 Southwest monsoon or Habagat (May-October) and northeast
monsoon or Amihan (November-early May) are the prevailing
winds in our country.
ACTIVITIES SUITED FOR DRY SEASON
1. Family outings and recreational activities
2. House cleaning and gardening
3. Harvesting and drying crops
4. Drying fish
5. Constructing roads, drainages, and fences
ACTIVITIES SUITED FOR WET SEASON

1. Indoor activities
2. Planting crops
FACTORS AFFECTING WEATHER
The higher the altitude, the lower the
temperature. When the sun warms the earth, it gets
unequal distribution to heat. Air at the equator is
warmer than the air at the poles.
ELEMENTS OF WEATHER CHANGES
Changes in humidity, cloudiness, air temperature, and
air and wind pressure cause a change in the weather.
1. TEMPERATURE – measure of the degree of hotness
or coldness of the air. It varies according to the
elevation, location of the place, and time of the day.
The higher the elevation, the lower the temperature.
ELEMENTS OF WEATHER CHANGES
2. HUMIDITY – measure of moisture present in the air.
When the temperature of the atmosphere is high, the
water in the earth’s surface evaporates rapidly. The
amount of water vapor in the air contributes to the
change of weather. High water vapor in the air means
precipitation could occur.
ELEMENTS OF WEATHER CHANGES
3. PRECIPITATION – is any form of moisture including
rain, drizzle, snow, freezing rain, hail, and ice pellets that
fall on the ground. Precipitations usually forms when
clouds reach the thickness of more than 1 kilometer.
4. WIND – horizontal movement of air. The wind speed
can be much higher during intense storms.
5. PRESSURE – force of the air on a given surface
divided by the area on that surface.
CLIMATE MAP OF THE PHILIPPINES
BASED ON THE MODIFIED CORONAS
CLASSIFICATION DESCRIPTION
Type l – two pronounced season dry from November to April
and wet during the rest of the year. Maximum rain
period is from June to September.
Type ll – no dry season with a very pronounced maximum
rain period from December to February. There is
not a single dry month. Minimum monthly rainfall
occurs during the period from March to May.
Type lll – no very pronounced maximum rain period with a
dry season lasting only from one to three months,
either during the period from December to
February or from March to May. This type
resembles types I since it has a short dry season.
Type IV – rainfall is more or less evenly distributed
throughout the year. This type resembles type 2
since it has no dry season.
CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES
The climate of the Philippines is either:
 tropical rainforest,
 tropical savanna
 tropical monsoon
 humid subtropical (in higher-altitude areas)
 Oceanic (both are in higher-altitude areas)
…characterized by relatively high temperature, oppressive humidity and plenty of rainfall.
There are two seasons in the country, the wet season and the dry season, based upon the
amount of rainfall. This is dependent as well on your location in the country as some areas
experience rain all throughout the year.
CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Weather in the Philippines is monitored and

managed by the Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (known locally as, PAGASA).
 CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES
RAINFALL
The summer monsoon brings heavy rains to
most of the archipelago from May to October.
Annual rainfall in the northern Philippines can be
traced to tropical cyclones, while the southern
islands receiving less than 10 percent of their
annual rainfall from tropical cyclones. The wettest
known tropical cyclone to impact the archipelago
was July 1911 cyclone, which dropped over 1,168
millimetres (46.0 in) of rainfall within a 24-hour
period in Baguio City.
RAINFALL
Rainfall is the most important climatic element in the Philippines. Rainfall
distribution throughout the country varies from one region to another,
depending upon the direction of the moisture-bearing winds and the location of
the mountain systems.
The mean annual rainfall of the Philippines varies from 965 to 4,064
millimeters annually, Baguio City, eastern Samar, and eastern Surigao receive
the greatest amount of rainfall while the southern portion of Cotabato receives
the least amount of rain. At General Santos City in Cotabato, the average
annual rainfall is only 978 millimeters.
 CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES
TYPHOONS
Bagyo is the local term to any tropical cyclone
in the Philippines Islands. From the statistics
gathered by PAGASA from 1948 to 2004, around
an average of 20 storms and/or typhoons per year
enter the PAR (Philippine Area of Responsibility) –
the designated area assigned to PAGASA to
monitor during weather disturbances. Those that
made landfall or crossed the Philippines, the
average was nine per year. In 1993, a record 19
typhoons made landfall in the country making it the
most in one year. The least amount per year were 4
during the years 1955, 1992, and 1997.
TYPHOONS
Typhoons have a great influence on the climate and weather conditions of
the Philippines. A great portion of the rainfall, humidity and cloudiness are due
to the influence of typhoons. They generally originate in the region of the
Marianas and Caroline Islands of the Pacific Ocean which have the same
latitudinal location as Mindanao. Their movements follow a northwesterly
direction, sparing Mindanao from being directly hit by majority of the typhoons
that cross the country. This makes the southern Philippines very desirable for
agriculture and industrial development.
TYPHOONS
PAGASA categorizes typhoons into four types according to
wind speed. Once a tropical cyclone enters the Philippine
Area of Responsibility, regardless of strength, PAGASA gives
it a local name for identification purposes by the media,
government, and the general public.
 PUBLIC STORM WARNING SYSTEM (PSWS)
For the past ten years, the Philippines has experienced a number of
extremely damaging tropical cyclones, particularly typhoons with more
than 20 km/h of sustained winds. Because of this, the Super Typhoon (STY)
category with more than 220 km/h maximum sustained winds was officially
adopted by the PAGASA. However, according to different stakeholders, the
extensive and devastating damages caused by strong typhoons such as
Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013 made the four-level warning system
inadequate.
 STRONGEST TYPHOONS
A. Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda, 2013)
The deadliest typhoon to impact the Philippines was Typhoon Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda, in
November 2013, in which more than 6,300 lives were lost from its storm surges and powerful winds.
Over 1,000 went missing and nearly 20,000 were injured. Winds reached 315 km/h in one-minute
sustained and may have been the strongest storm in history in terms of wind speeds before the 1970s
were too high to record.
 STRONGEST TYPHOONS
B. Typhoon Angela (Rosing, 1995)
Back in 1995, where Typhoon Angela, know as Rosing was an extremely catastrophic
category 5 typhoon that made landfall in Catanduanes and made across Manila. Winds
reached 290 km/h on one-minute sustain winds. Rosing took 936 lives and the most powerful
typhoon that ever hit Metro Manila.
 STRONGEST TYPHOONS
C. Typhoon Bopha (Pablo, 2012)
On late December 3, 2012, Typhoon Bopha or known as Pablo made landfall on Eastern
Mindanao, damage was over US$ 1.04 billion by winds of 280 km/h on one-minute sustain winds.
Typhoon Bopha was the most powerful typhoon ever hit Mindanao, killing 1,067 people were
missing. Most of the damage was caused by rushing storm surges and screaming winds.
 STRONGEST TYPHOONS
D. Typhoon Megi (Juan, 2010)
Typhoon Megi 2010 was the strongest storm ever to make landfall in the country in
terms of pressure. It reached wind speeds of 295 km/h on one-minute sustained winds,
killing 67 people and crossing over US$700 million in damage.
 TEMPERATURE
 Based on the average of all weather stations in the Philippines, excluding Baguio, the
mean annual temperature is 26.6⁰ C. The coolest months fall in January with a mean
temperature of 25.5⁰ C while the warmest month occurs in May with a mean temperature
of 28.3⁰ C. Latitude is an insignificant factor in the variation of temperature while altitude
shows greater contrast in temperature. Thus, the mean annual temperature of Baguio with
an elevation of 1,500 meters is 18.3⁰ C. This makes the temperature of Baguio comparable
with those in the temperate climate and because of this, it is known as the summer capital
of the Philippines.
 The difference between the mean annual temperature of the southernmost station in
Zamboanga and that of the northernmost station in Laoag is insignificant. In other words,
there is essentially no difference in the mean annual temperature of places in Luzon,
Visayas or Mindanao measured at or near sea level.
 CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES
The average year-round temperature measured from all
Weather Stations in the Philippines.
 HUMIDITY
Humidity refers to the moisture content of the atmosphere. Due to
high temperature and the surrounding bodies of water, the
Philippines has a high relative humidity. The average monthly
relative humidity varies between 71 percent in March and 85 percent
in September. The combination of warm temperature and high
relative and absolute humidities give rise to high sensible
temperature throughout the archipelago. It is especially
uncomfortable during March to May, when temperature and
humidity attain their maximum levels.
 THE SEASONS
Using temperature and rainfall as bases, the climate of the
country can be divided into two major seasons:
1. Rainy Season (June – November)
2. Dry Season (December – May)
a. The cool dry season (December – February)
b. The hot dry season (March – May)