RSS Feeds: The Three Seasons of Weather in the Philippines
We all know there are four seasons of weather: Spring, summer, winter and fall (or autumn). In countries like the Philippines, however, the four seasons aren't recognized as such. Officially or unofficially, it really doesn't matter. What matters is what the people living in the Philippines recognize.
The Seasons
The three seasons in the Philippines are:
- Hot Season (tag-init or tag-araw) – March to May
- Rainy Season (tag-ulan) – June to November
- Cold Season (tag-lamig) – December to February
The Perception of Cold or Hot
When I lived in Phoenix, AZ, USA, I used to laugh at the people that were called "snowbirds" — people who came to Phoenix for the winter from places where it was much colder. The snowbirds would walk around in t-shirts and shorts when everyone else was wearing heavy clothing, sweaters and jackets. It was amusing, but understandable. The temperature rarely went lower than freezing in Phoenix and these people came from places where it was always below freezing in the winter. They had more brown fat on their bodies, which served to insulate them from the cold.
I've been living here for more than three years. For me, it's almost always either warm or hot. The Filipinos are running around in sweaters and jackets during the cold season while I'm wearing a t-shirt. I guess I could be considered something like a "snowbird", but not coming from a place where it snows. Of course, I'm adapting to the climate more and more as time progresses. Acclimation is a wonderful thing. Perhaps I'll be wearing a jacket (and I have nice, warm leather jacket hanging in my closet) during the cold season in a few years.
Keeping Tabs on the Weather
Most of the bad weather in the Philippines occurs during the rainy season (but not always). That's when the tropical storms and typhoons like to roll in, destroy things and kill people. There is a website that I visit almost every day, to find out what the current state of the weather is: The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)
Looking at the satellite map they provide, I can tell whether it's safe for me to be running around in Olongapo. I ignore the fact that a lot of Filipinos are running around regardless of the weather, aching to be another statistic, and stay home when I don't believe it's safe to be out there.
Right now, as I write this, it's the rainy season in the Philippines. People are taking showers, with bar soap and shampoo, in the rain and all kinds of things you would never see happening in the US. I'm staying indoors, where I'm comfortable and dry.
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Hi RT – I wrote an article awhile back about the seasons here in Spokane and how I didn't really see anything I could call seasons in the Philippines. I got a few comments back explaining how in Davao/Samal there is Wet, Wetter, Hot & Hotter for the four seasons. It seems to rain a lot more consistently in the Mindanao region.
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Great post!
My fear is that soon we'll have only 2 seasons – inferno and ice age. :(
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But my fear is the south and north pole melt sooner. It's the end of the day. Are you ready?
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I guess they're just ahead of us here in the states, since we're quickly losing our seasons to global warming. Soon we'll be left with 2 – blazingly hot and ice age.
If you think about it, there's really no winter in the tropics. Just slightly cooler during the months which signify winter in the temperate regions.
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Such a wonderful country to visit
In San Diego we also have to do without the four traditional seasons. We just have room temperature, hot, or cool and rainy. And it gets more confusing when many of the cool days are in June with the "June Gloom" (i.e. marine layer). We have some of our hottest days in September, then another spirt in December. But most of the year we just call it room temperature, with an average of around 72 degrees.
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I started laughing immediately when I read your description of 3 seasons. Mainly because I live in the Chicago area and I've often told people that we have 3 seasons here. They consist of "Summer", "Winter", and "Not Winter".
An example: "Yeah, it's a bit cold out, I'm just glad it's not winter."
Keep in mind that during the summer months, the temp here has gone as high (occasionally over) 100F, but during the winters the windchill factor can make it feel like -70F.
Hi Carl: I went to school and live in Chicago in the early 1960's for more than 5 years and can identify with Chicago's weather. On winter, I will ask myself, why in the Heck am I in this city, when life in the Philippines was much warmer. So after graduation, I vowed I will never live in Chicago again. So far so good! Cheers and Have a Good Day!
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I grew up in New England and now live in Georgia. I really miss the extreme changing of the seasons. It always seems like a tease here in Georgia. Not quite cold enough, talk of weather than never comes.
Interesting post about Philipines. I always thought there are only 2 seasons (that is dry and wet), it is nice that You showed me that I was wrong :)
I'm interested in one thing. You said that in cold season You are wearing t-shirt, ant the natives are wearing jackets and sweters. My question is: how high are the temperatures around the cold season?
I can't tell you how high they get, but I can tell you how low: around 25C or 70F. That's t-shirt weather for me.
Here in Costa Rica we only have 2 seasons, hot season and rainy season, but the weather is almost the same all the year round.
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