MANILA, Philippines – The state weather bureau announced the start of the rainy season on Wednesday, May 18, following days of rain.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said a frontal system and severe thunderstorms brought “widespread rain during the last five days” to areas under the Type I climate and other parts of the country.

On its website, PAGASA says that “a province is considered to have Type I climate if there is a distinct dry and wet season; wet from June to November and dry the rest of the year.”

The weather bureau also observed the southwesterly windflow in the last few days.

“This satisfies the criteria of the start of the rainy season over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas,” PAGASA said.

With the onset of the rainy season, intermittent rain due to the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat is expected to affect western parts of the Philippines, including Metro Manila.

But PAGASA noted that there may be monsoon breaks, or periods without rain, lasting for several days or weeks.

La Niña is also still ongoing, “which may increase the likelihood of above normal rainfall conditions in the coming months,” the weather bureau said.

So far, the Philippines has had only two tropical cyclones in 2022 – Tropical Storm Agaton (Megi) and Typhoon Basyang (Malakas) – both in April.

Agaton lingered inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), with 214 people reported dead, mostly in Eastern Visayas. It also damaged an estimated P2.26 billion worth of agriculture and P6.95 million worth of infrastructure.

Basyang was inside PAR for only 3 hours and did not affect the country.

The Philippines sees an average of 20 tropical cyclones per year. – Rappler.com