ILOILO City – Western Visayas and the rest of the country should brace for a prolonged cold spell as the northeast monsoon (amihan) and an active shear line continue to dominate the weather pattern.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the colder-than-usual conditions being felt across the region are expected to last until February or even March, compounded by a short-lived La Niña that is bringing more rains and weather disturbances.
Jeff Patrick Maquiling, weather forecaster of PAGASA Iloilo, said the gradual drop in temperature now being experienced is directly linked to the onset of amihan last October, which will persist early into 2026.
He added that the colder weather coincides with the continued presence of a short-lived La Niña, which is expected to bring above-normal rainfall until February, raising the risks of flooding, landslides, and weather disruptions nationwide.
Maquiling said this La Niña episode has been in place since around October or November, contributing to the unusually high number of typhoons that entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) late this year.
However, the likelihood of multiple tropical cyclones entering PAR in December has already dropped, Maquiling clarified, given the surge of storms observed in the previous months.
PAGASA forecasts only one or two more typhoons this month.
Notwithstanding the dominant role of the amihan and La Niña, Maquiling stressed that even without these systems, cooler temperatures remain possible in the Philippines during these months due to its tropical nature.
“Tropical country kita, so abundant gid ang rainfall,” he said./PN
