Pagasa buying new gear for heat index monitoring
As temperatures rise in some parts of the country, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) will be getting a new instrument within the year to improve its forecast services, particularly on the heat index.
“The Pagasa modernization program continues, and we also continue to acquire infrastructure and [the] latest technologies. One of these is with regards to our heat index because we can see that it is a bit subjective,” said Ana Liza Solis, the state weather bureau’s Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section chief, during a press briefing on Monday.
“Because [the heat index] is based on the heat felt [by humans], that means there are a lot of assumptions for this basis,” she told reporters.
Danger levels
Compared with actual temperature, heat index is based on the apparent temperature, or what humans feel as heat affecting their bodies. It is measured by combining data on air temperature and relative humidity.
Solis said that through its locally funded project, Pagasa would acquire an instrument called a wet bulb temperature meter this year, which measures the possible human discomfort felt under certain temperatures or relative humidity.
In the past days, Pagasa has recorded a heat index that reached “danger” levels ranging from 42 to 51 degrees Celsius in several areas nationwide, including Metro Manila, which prompted some local governments to suspend classes as a precaution.
The weather bureau has warned that a heat index under the “danger” classification is likely to cause heat cramps and heat exhaustion, with continued exposure possibly leading to heat stroke.
“Although we will experience high temperatures, if we compare it to last year, the previous year was hotter,” Solis said, noting that the country experienced a strong El Niño and record-breaking temperatures in 2024.
“Despite this, it is still possible that we will have high [levels of] heat index [this year] that could reach up to 48 or 50 [Celsius],” she added.
“For … the maximum daytime [temperature], we predict that it could possibly rise by April or the first week of May. So that is when we will experience hotter temperatures of around 39.6 or 39.8 C,” Solis said.
“For now we have not yet predicted the possibility of the maximum daytime temperature reaching 40 C, but [with] the heat index of 52 C last year, there is a possibility [that it will reoccur this year]. But it will only be [short], and will not be widespread,” she added.
