The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has formally declared the start of the northeast monsoon or Amihan on Tuesday.

In a statement, Pagasa said that for several days, the high pressure area over Siberia has strengthened, causing a strong surge of northeasterly winds which is expected to affect the eastern parts of Luzon Tuesday and on Wednesday, after the passage of Super Typhoon “Pepito”.

“Furthermore, successive surges of northeasterly winds are expected over the next two weeks, leading to an increase in atmospheric pressure and cooling of surface air temperature over the northern portion of Luzon,” Pagasa said.

It also said that northeasterly wind flow is expected to be more dominant in most parts of the country, bringing cold and dry air.

“Episodes of wind and cold temperature surges, as well as increasing prevalence of rough sea conditions, especially over the seaboards of Luzon are also expected in the coming months,” Pagasa said.

In a separate advisory, Pagasa said that as of 2 pm, no low pressure areas or tropical cyclones are being monitored for tropical cyclone formation. Jaspearl Tan/DMS