Residents and visitors of Baguio will continue to experience cold weather until February or during the Flower Festival season.
Engr. Larry Esperanza of the Pagasa Baguio Synoptic Station said this in his weather outlook report during the Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CRDRRMC) pre-disaster risk assessment and coordination meeting for the Panagbenga 2024.
The forecast shows a minimum temperature range of 9.7 to 11.6 degrees Celsius this January, and between 9.4 to 12 degrees Celsius for February.
Based on the record of Pagasa Baguio, the lowest temperature so far this month was 12.4 degrees Celsius recorded at 5 a.m. of Jan. 17.
Baguio will also continue to experience dry conditions with the forecast of zero to two tropical cyclones to enter the Philippine area of responsibility the first two months of the year.
“In case tropical cyclones enter PAR, it will not directly affect Baguio City due to the prevailing northeast monsoon or amihan,” Esperanza said.
The Pagasa outlook also indicates 26 dry days in January and 23 days in February. Dry day is defined as a day with less than 1 mm of rainfall.
Meanwhile, with the cold weather prevailing over Baguio, City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit head Dr. Donnabel Tubera Panes reminded the public to be wary of cold weather illnesses such as influenza-like diseases, and also Covid-19, as the virus remains in our midst.
Tubera said from monitoring week one (Jan. 8 to 14), there were 83 Covid-19 cases recorded in Baguio, compared to the 68 cases recorded from Jan. 1 to 7, and 46 cases recorded in the last week of 2023.
She reiterated the public should continue practicing the minimum public health standards to protect themselves from influenza-like illnesses and Covid-19.
Tubera also reminded the public to be wary of waterborne diseases even as the city government announced on Jan. 18 that the acute gastroenteritis outbreak has been contained. – Carlito C. Dar
