Dry Season's Absence: How August Is Going So Far in the Philippines

[Cccgala]

So far, rainy season and La Niña is taking place.

Those raindrops were hitting my glass window yesterday.

The Philippines, the country where I live, experiences more frequent rainy weather from June to November as opposed to the other months of the year. Hence, rainy season takes place. The rainy season can be due to either typhoons or the Southwest monsoon, sometimes referred as the Summer monsoon (Honestly, I think calling it 'Summer monsoon' is tricky because PH does not have a season called 'summer'; it only has a 'dry season.')

Furthermore, the La Niña weather phenomenon has been bringing the Philippines cool temperatures alongside the rainy season.

"La Niña is a weather phenomenon characterized by unusually cool ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific."

This may be the reason why I see plenty of people wearing jackets, cardigans, sweaters, and other thick clothing since August 1st.

A typhoon has left our dear shores, and many of its kind are expected to come visit us. Likewise, the Southwest monsoon will intensify.

As a result, azure skies are rarely seen.

I am certainly not bedazzled at how the gray clouds obscure the sight of the blue skies I love and even the sight of the Sun. This picture I took will give you an idea of the skies I wake up to every day this August:

August has been helpful yet destructive.

This is a blessing-in-disguise for almost all households, actually. The rain would water our plants instead of us doing the manual work.

Still, this is jeopardy for the most part. Floods and landslides continue to happen as much as rainfall persists.

Productivity in school has been severely affected.

This month marks the onset of class suspensions due to inclement weather.

Due to continuous rainfall, afternoon classes are cancelled in all levels in the entire province of Cavite.
Umuwi kagad baka mabaha kayo.

— Boying Remulla (@BoyingRemulla31) August 9, 2016

#WalangPasok Pre-school to Senior HS in Batangas province today (Aug 10, 2016), both private & public pic.twitter.com/kOgQJAJdJo

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) August 9, 2016

UP DILIMAN, QC—Classes are suspended all levels, Wednesday, August 10, 2016. #WalangPasok via @Official_UPD

— GMA News Breaking (@gmanewsbreaking) August 9, 2016

#WalangPasok | ANNOUNCEMENT: All Classes Suspended in Pasig City August 10, 2016 | @PasigInfo

— RadyoInquirer990AM (@dzIQ990) August 9, 2016

MANDALUYONG | #walangpasok Classes (all levels/public and private) are suspended August 10, Wednesday | @MandaluyongDRRM

— DepEd (@DepEd_PH) August 9, 2016

Yesterday, our classes were suspended because of such never-ending rainfall. In hindsight, it was raining the evening before yesterday. Some low-lying areas quickly accumulated floods, most of the floods thereof reaching the level of one's ankle.

Today, August 10, classes are still suspended. Here is a record of the places where classes are suspended for today.

Most students I know love having suspensions because that would mean a day to stay at home and away from school.

As for me, I do love staying at home even just for a day but I am bothered by the suspensions' unpleasant effect to the overall productivity of the students. Number of school days would be lessened. Teachers would also devise back-up schedules so that the missed lessons would be tackled for another time.

When students' classes are suspended due to weather that is non-conducive for safe arrival and departure, attending school is not encouraged. Teachers and school administrators are also advised not to report to school anymore due to the expected absence of most learners.

Our P.E. classes has no progress.

Our Physical Education classes are held outside the room (except for the times we take pop quizzes and written exams). Given the presence of the rainy season, we have not had a single thing performed physically! The plans for the subject has been affected by the rainy season. Since June 2016, all we did was discussions and taking tests.

Heavy traffic gradually becomes a daily encounter.

The traffic has been worsened by the rainy season. Low-lying areas tend to encounter this problem more often than the highly-elevated terrains; roads from the former are quickly inaccessible due to floods, thus alternate routes would be implemented and many vehicles would comply themselves to the alteration unlike the latter which rarely experience the problem.

This picture was also taken yesterday from the jeepney ride I took.

How The Rainy Season Affects Me

I am not a pluviophile (used to describe a person who finds peace in rainy weather and a person who loves rain) so I do not get why people love the rain. Here are some of my personal struggles:

1. I struggle taking a bath in the morning because water from the faucet would be cold.
2. I cannot go outside without an umbrella with me.

3. Staying at home bores me.

4. Floods accumulate in the area I live in.

5. Most areas right now experience slower Internet connection.

Thank you for reading.

[renogaza]

its lucky that i'm on fiber optic internet or i wouldn't be online right now (as opposed to my whole neighborhood), some areas in my region are also having heavy flooding especially in cities around the laguna de bay region and lower bicutan, and although it wasn't all that windy last night the power grids in some areas have been knocked out of commission (probably because of la mesa dam), and some very flooded roads have been closed off and diverted

although this sounds pretty bad its actually the norm here, the Philippines is so ill prepared to face any kind of disaster and don't enforce strict regulations against logging or modify the drainage system to be larger so massive floods and landslides are pretty common and its only going to get worse

researchers and meteorologists believe that with the climate drastically changing the philippines over recent years the country will experience its very first white Christmas by December 2022, and this will become more and more common as the world's ecological condition changes, this country is not prepared for multiple annual super typhoons, let alone an actual winter. (i'm prepared however and will be looking forward to it :) )

[Cccgala]

Oh you're from the Philippines, too? Hala grabe naman po yung sinapit niyo noong mga nakaraang araw :( I hope you're alright now :)

You have a point in your second paragraph :) In addition, I think many areas here in PH are low-lying areas especially here in Southern Luzon, hence the frequent flooding. We don't have those splendor of mountains and highly elevated terrains of the North (I think the cases there concern landslides more than floods, or I may be wrong.)

I would dread this country if we were to have winter! I couldn't stand the cold brought by habagat, so how would I actually tolerate winter? :O No no no no way~

[_HimigNgKalayaan_]

hahaha memriez, I remember celebrating so hard whenever it rains hard cuz no skewl of course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

[Cccgala]

I would miss them too if I were to go to college hahaha
PS. Whoa, your username is cooool!

[redeyemindtricks]

What is that tree on the left in the second picture? The one that looks like an upside-down Christmas tree? That's mesmerizing...

Do you live in Metro Manila?

[Cccgala]

I did some research about the tree and the scientific name is "araucaria heterophylla." 😊

No, but I live in a city that's very near to Metro Manila.

[redeyemindtricks]

Ah cool, thanks.

Does yr city have the license-plate restrictions, too? Like in Manila -- ending in 0-1 can't drive on Mondays, 2-3 can't drive on Tuesdays, etc.
(this is what the traffic makes me think of... lol)

[Cccgala]

Yes :D We have them and they are implemented well
Still, traffic conditions don't change here

[redeyemindtricks]

yeah, didn't figure that rule would affect traffic much -- enough families (or just people with enough money) probably just have 2 or more cars, and then they aren't affected by the rule (unless they're unlucky enough to get both plates ending with numbers for the same day).

hmm

[lightbulb27]

Insightful, thank you. Sorry for the rainy skys. you should fly out to ohio... nice hot and sunny right now...

[Cccgala]

Wow that's the complete opposite :O Good thing Ohio experiences my IDEAL weather huhuhu
I am in awe with the planet Earth right now :)