Gray Matter


The Seasons of Weather in the Philippines

RT Cunningham | July 13, 2020 (UTC) | Locations

seasons of weatherWe all know there are four seasons of weather (spring, summer, winter and fall), right? In tropical countries like the Philippines, the four seasons aren’t even recognized. Officially or unofficially, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is what the people living in the Philippines recognize.

The one thing that bothers me the most about the weather is when people know a tropical cyclone (typhoon) is rolling in and still do nothing to prepare for it. It bothers me more than the storm itself, especially when they roll in somewhere in the country every single year.

How Many Seasons of Weather in the Philippines?

There are only two official seasons of weather in the Philippines, and they are:

There are other “unofficial seasons” in the Philippines, and they are:

The Perception of Cold or Hot

When I lived in Phoenix, Arizona, I used to laugh at the people we called “snowbirds”. The 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 below freezing in Phoenix and those people came from places where it always went below freezing in the winter. They had more brown fat on their bodies than we did, which insulated them from the cold.

Even though I’ve lived in the Philippines for a long time (off and on), it’s almost always either warm or hot for me. 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.

I didn’t adapt to the climate before I returned to the United States the first time. That was after more than seven years. I returned for three and half years, after being away for about a year and half, and I still couldn’t adapt. I’ve been back in the United States for nearly two and half years this time. Getting back to the Philippines is going to be difficult. I doubt I’ll ever adapt to the climate there.

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 cyclones like to roll in, destroy things and kill people. There’s a website I visit almost every day during rainy season in the Philippines, 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 display, I can tell whether it’s safe for running around outside my neighborhood. I ignore the fact that a lot of Filipinos are running around regardless of the weather. I stay home when I don’t believe it’s safe even when others think it is.

When it’s rainy season (and still hot), I see people taking showers in the rain and doing all kinds of things you would never see them doing anywhere else in the world.

Photo Attribution: Andreas from Pixabay
Edited and updated. Originally published at one of my other websites in August 2013.

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