MANILA, Philippines – The state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) quietly launched a redesigned website Monday, February 3, packed with more weather-related information for the public.
The website’s homepage at web.pagasa.dost.gov.ph now has modules on weather advisories, information on floods and dams, and climate advisories.
Current conditions for 15 major cities are also easily accessible via a map, as well as 5-day extended forecasts.
It also has links to additional weather resources, such as radar and satellite imagery, flood forecasting and warning systems for Metro Manila, and links to the National Operational Assessment of Hazards and the Met-Hydro Decision Support Infosys (Meteopilipinas).
The bureau’s Regional Services Division now also have individual websites, where people can access weather and climate information for each of the 5 Pagasa regional divisions: National Capital Region, Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
An Android app is also available for mobile users, and can be downloaded via the website.
PAGASA, one of the top government websites based on data from web metrics provider Alexa, last had a redesign around 2004. The old site design can still be accessed as of posting time at a mirror server, kidlat.pagasa.dost.gov.ph.
The bureau’s website is part of the dost.gov.ph system of the Department of Science and Technology. The weather bureau’s site attracts 75.30% of the DOST web traffic, the bureau said on January 30.
Overall, the DOST site is 108th most popular in the Philippines, based on Alexa rankings.
Pagasa is one of the government’s major weather-related sites, which include the Project NOAH site.
The government, for a short time in 2012, also maintained the weather portal www.weather.gov.ph, which was basically a mirror site of the bureau’s main portal. It has since been shut down. – KD Suarez/Rappler.com