The climate in the Philippines

As an extensive island nation, the Philippines are dependent on many weather factors. The best known are the Pacific influences with typhoons on the east coast, which occur mainly from August to November.

The west coast, which gets its climate from the South Chinese Sea, is almost isolated from this. There are monsoon winds from June to October, which bring warmer but also humid air masses.

The central islands of the Visayas are largely isolated from the open sea by the other chains of islands in front of them. Here, the climate is more moderate, but still hot.

In the southern regions around Mindanao and the Zulu archipelago, it is hot and rather dry all year round.

Temperature records of the last 74 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to January 2023 was reported by the Zamboanga weather station. In October 2006, the record temperature of 41.5 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 34 weather stations in the Philippines , was recorded in 1998 with an average temperature of 28.8 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 27.9 degrees Celsius.

The coldest day in these 74 years was reported by the Tacloban weather station. Here the temperature dropped to 13.0 °C in January 2005. Tacloban lies at an altitude of two meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1963 with an average temperature of 24.0 °C. In the Philippines, it is usual to have about 2.2 degrees more at 26.3 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in September 1974. With 59.7 mm per day, the Basco weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 74 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Hinatuan. The driest region is near General Santos.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1999 - 2022

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 3 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1999 to 2022, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Laoag, Zamboanga, Legaspi). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was May 2016 at 29.7 °C. January 2014 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 25.0 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 27.9 °C in the years after 1999 and about 28.1 °C in the last years before 2022. So over the past 24 years, it has only increased by a minimal 0.2 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in the Philippines. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average. There are 35 stations in the Philippines itself. In one case, a nearby weather station from a neighboring country was used to obtain more accurate values.