Baguio chill drops to 9.8 degrees Celsius

MANILA, Philippines — Baguio City recorded the coldest temperature for the entire country so far this year at 9.8 degrees Celsius yesterday morning, as temperatures continued to drop in various parts of the country.

This is a three-degree drop from the 12.2 degrees recorded at 6:30 a.m. on Friday at the city monitoring station in Benguet Province, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

Neighboring Benguet towns such as La Trinidad also experienced the chill Saturday at 10 degrees Celsius, while the rest of the Cordillera Region experienced partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila also recorded its coldest morning at 19.9 degrees yesterday.

State meteorologists said that the cold weather may persist until the first or second week of February due to the northeast monsoon which is further exacerbated by the cold winds coming from the Siberia Region.

The monsoon is expected to bring cloudy skies with light rains over Quezon, Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, Caraga and Davao Oriental.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country may also see isolated rains.

The peak of the northeast monsoon came a bit late due to the persisting El Niño phenomenon.

Baguio City reached a record low of 6.3 degrees on Jan. 16, 1963, the lowest in history. — Artemio Dumlao