Weathering the Philippine Weather

Whenever we visit a certain place or a country, it’s important to know what kind of weather will be in that place.

Because the clothes we’ll be bringing will also depends on the weather of the place. There are areas in which you will have to haul your heavy coats and warmers. And there are also places in which you will only need a pair of bikini and a suntan lotion. But the most important of al is that we have to be sure that we will not be caught in the middle of typhoon, hurricane, etc.

The location of the Philippines, which is just above the equator gives this country an average temperature. It ranges from 24 degrees Celsius up to 31 degrees Celsius. And because of this, the tropical climate of the Philippines is one of the healthiest climate in the world.

To perfectly understand the Philippine weather, the temperature, humidity and rainfall are to be considered.

Temperature

In most of the places in Philippines, the normal temperature is 26.6 degrees Celsius. During the coolest month, which is January, the temperature lowers to 25.5 degrees Celsius. During May which is considered the warmest month, the temperature rises to 28.3 degrees Celsius. In what mentioned above, Baguio was excluded because of its altitude. Baguio was elevated of about 1,500 meters and with a mean temperature of 18.3 degrees Celsius. For those planning to spend summer in the Philippines but can’t take the heat, they can head up to Baguio which is the ‘Summer Capital of the Philippines’.

Humidity

Humidity was defined as the moisture content of the atmosphere. Philippines have a high relative humidity this is because of having a high temperature and being surrounded by water. The humidity varies in the succeeding months. Just be warned that it would be quite uncomfortable during March to May wherein the humidity and temperature is in the highest level.

Rainfall

This is considered to be important element in the Philippine weather. The rainfall distribution varies, and this depends on the location of mountain systems and ‘moisture-bearing winds’. Some parts of the country like Baguio, Samar and Surigao will experience the greatest amount of rainfall while in the southern part of Cotabato you will experience the opposite.

Seasons

The Philippine weather is quite predictable and there are only two seasons: the dry season and the wet season. The wet season or the rainy season is from June to November while the dry season is divided into two: the cool dry season, which is from December to February and March to May, is the hot dry season.

Climate Types

There are four recognized climate types that are given:

Type I – two pronounced season: dry from November to April and wet season during the rest of the year.

Type II – No dry season with a very pronounced rainfall from November to January.

Type III – Seasons are not very pronounced relatively dry from November to April and for the rest of the years is rainy season.

Type IV – Rainfall is more or less evenly distributed through the year.

You can experience these four types of climate in the different part of the Philippines.

Typhoons

If other countries have to constantly worry about hurricane, twister and tsunami, Philippines have typhoons but this is milder than those earlier mentioned. Typhoons were a frequent visitor of the country; an average of 25 typhoons visited the Philippines every year. Typhoons can occur in any time of the year but it usually coincided with the rainy season.

Typhoons usually originates from the Marianas and Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean which is in line with the Mindanao region and its usual direction is northwest and that is why the northern part of Luzon were always hit by typhoons.

But don’t be discouraged by simple typhoons. You can visit Philippines anytime you want. You can enjoy the heat of the sun in the numerous beaches and resorts in the different parts of the Philippines or you can also try the rainy season, an advantage to that is the humidity and temperature is lower than the dry season. And the rain showers don’t usually last long due to the fact that we are in tropical place. The Philippine weather should not be a problem or a bother to your plans in visiting the Philippines.