Baguio chill drops further
By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY— The mercury level of the thermometer in this mountain resort city registered record-breaking levels the first few days of the year, signaling more colder days during the first quarter which is expected to boost tourism arrivals.

Since Monday, the first working day of the year, workers in private and government sectors and thousands of students who were supposed to attend classes had a difficult time waking up as the temperature dropped to a cool 10 degrees Celsius from 11 degrees Celsius.

At the middle part of the week, temperature went down to 9 degrees.

If people were not able to bring out their thick jackets and clothes when the temperature in the city dropped over the past few days, they were forced to use the same in going to work or attend classes after the temperature dropped to nearly single digit Monday.

The cool temperature in the city and other highly elevated areas in the Cordillera started to prevail during the early month of November and will end up to the later part of March depending on the existence of the tail end of the cold front.

Despite the unpredictable weather condition in the city, health authorities claimed there are still manageable cases of cold day diseases although they are still on alert for the expected rise in such illnesses once the weather gets colder in the coming days.

The local office of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said much colder days will be experienced in the city and other parts of the Cordillera as the snow triggered by the prevailing winter season in mainland China and Siberia will start melting and cold winds will start to be blown to Northern Luzon area by the northeast monsoon.

However, PAGASA officials said temperature in other highly elevated areas in the region are at least lower by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius which makes the areas prone to frost early mornings.

Considering unpredictable weather condition in the city, local tourism stakeholders advised visitors to bring with them thick clothes.

Baguio was discovered by the Americans in the early 1900s as a hill station suitable for rest and recreation because of its cool weather condition.

The city has a total land area of at least 57 square kilometers that is characterized by mountainous terrain and rolling hills.

Although the city was designed by the Americans for only 25,000 inhabitants, its population now is approximately over 301,000 during the night but its daytime population reaches over 700,000.