EIGHTY percent of the country received way below normal amount of rainfall during the month of May, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said. Pagasa recorded very low rainfall amounts over most of the provinces in the country due to ridge of High Pressure Areas (HPAs) which bring cloudless skies in most parts of the country. The El Niño has been present since October 2014. It will reach its peak in October to December and decrease in the early months of 2016, according to the Pagasa forecast. Pagasa also said that 60 percent of the country were affected by either drought or dry spell. Pagasa identified 30 provinces which were affected by drought. The provinces are the following: Abra, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Bataan, Pampanga, Cavite, Palawan and Masbate in Luzon; Bohol, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Biliran, Leyte, Western Samar and Southern Leyte in Visayas; and Zamboanga del Norte, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-tawi in Mindanao. The weather bureau noted that the El Niño in the tropical Pacific Ocean is still weak but is now showing signs of strengthening which could last until the latter part of the year. “The weak El Niño is expected by August, and then it will become a moderate El Niño,” said Antonio Lucero, Officer in Charge of the Climate Impacts Monitoring and Prediction Section of the Pagasa Climatology and Agrometeorology Division. Lucero said that rainy season is expected to commence by mid-june 2015 and also there are 11-16 tropical cyclones expected to develop in or enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility from June - December. The El Niño event occurs when sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific become warmer than normal. Lucero noted that since November last year, warm ocean conditions persist, which shows that El Nino was already in progress. Aside from affecting the normal rainfall pattern in the country, Lucero said the El Nino phenomenon could also intensify tropical cyclones and shift its movement northward. “The country could still experience normal number of cyclones this year,” he noted. “But the El Nino may cause the behavior of the cyclone to become erratic, affecting its track and intensity. Mas mabuti talaga kung maghahanda tayo at maging vigilant na lang kapag may paparating na bagyo,” he added. The El Niño, which occurs usually every two to seven years, is the opposite of the La Niña phenomenon that is associated with “wetter” conditions. Pagasa earlier said that the country experienced the worst El Nino in 1997 to 1998, when it was plagued by dry spell resulting to severe agricultural losses. El Niño is a climate phenomenon that happens when a vast pool of water in the western tropical Pacific Ocean becomes abnormally warm. The public can expect more intense dry seasons and stronger typhoons when an El Niño phenomenon occurs. –pna