The gradual decrease in sea surface temperature is expected to still be within the El Niño threshold and likely to sustain its moderate strength as it continues in its mature stage which will last up to June.

Ricardo Mercado, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomic Services Administration (Pagasa) region 10, said rainfall condition within the period will likely be below normal over most parts of the country.

Not affected by this condition are some areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and the eastern part of Mindanao where near normal rainfall is expected while the rest of the country will likely experience way below normal rainfall condition.

Provinces still under dry spell condition are Benguet, Batanes, Cagayan Valley, Isabela, Nueva Viscaya, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Batangas, Iloilo, Antique, Guimaras, Negros Occidental and Capiz.

Mercado said the climate last month was influenced by the northeast monsoon, tail-end of the cold front, ridge of high pressure area, easterly wave and a slim chance for a tropical cyclone occurrence.

Slightly warmer surface temperatures were experienced for the month: 20°C to 33°C over the lowlands of Luzon, 13°C to 24°C for the mountainous areas of Luzon, 22°C to 32°C for Visayas, 22°C to 33°C and 18°C to 29°C over the lowlands and over the mountainous areas of Mindanao, respectively.

Last January, the weather systems that influenced the rainfall condition were the northeast monsoon, the tail-end of a cold front, the ridge of HPA, the low pressure area and the inter-tropical convergence zone. Philippine Information Agency