Climate of the Philippines

Climate of the Philippines is either tropical rainforest, tropical savanna, tropical monsoon, or humid subtropical (in higher-altitude areas) characterized by relatively high temperature, oppressive humidity and plenty of rainfall. There are two seasons in the country, the wet season and the dry season, based upon the amount of rainfall. This is also dependent on location in the country as some areas experience rain all throughout the year (see Climate types). Based on temperature, the warmest months of the year are March through October; the winter monsoon brings cooler air from November to February. May is the warmest month, and January, the coolest.

Weather in the Philippines is monitored and managed by PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration).

Monsoons are large-scale sea breezes which occur when the temperature on land is significantly warmer or cooler than the temperature of the ocean. Most summer monsoons have a dominant westerly component and a strong tendency to ascend and produce copious amounts of rain (because of the condensation of water vapor in the rising air). The intensity and duration, however, are not uniform from year to year. Winter monsoons, by contrast, have a dominant easterly component and a strong tendency to diverge, subside and cause drought.

The summer monsoon brings heavy rains to most of the archipelago from May to October. Annual average rainfall ranges from as much as 5,000 millimetres (197 in) in the mountainous east coast section of the country, to less than 1,000 millimetres (39 in) in some of the sheltered valleys. Monsoon rains, although hard and drenching, are not normally associated with high winds and waves.

At least 30 percent of the annual rainfall in the northern Philippines can be traced to tropical cyclones, while the southern islands receiving less than 10 percent of their annual rainfall from tropical cyclones. The wettest known tropical cyclone to impact the archipelago was the July 1911 cyclone, when the total precipitation for Baguio was distributed over the four days as: 14th – 879.8 mm (34.6 in), 15th – 733.6 mm (28.9 in), 16th – 424.9 mm (16.7 in), 17th – 200.4 mm (7.9 in); followed by extraordinary drought from October 1911 to May 1912, so that the annual amount of those two years were hardly noticeable.

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