Variability of Precipitation around the Philippines during the Summer

What is it about?

During the Northern Hemisphere summer, a phenomenon known as the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation (BSISO) significantly impacts weather conditions in the Maritime Continent. Inactive BSISO periods are associated with relatively clear skies and reduced rainfall, while active BSISO periods bring cloudiness and large raining systems. Also associated with active BSISO periods is a rainfall maximum just of the western coast of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. Using measurements of rain from satellites, this paper examines the daily evolution of precipitation in Luzon, and how it changes based on BSISO activity.

Featured Image

Photo by ALBERT RENN on Unsplash

Photo by ALBERT RENN on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Luzon is home to over 50 million people, and monsoon rains in the summer can lead to devastating landslides and flooding. Being able to more accurately predict heavy rain events could save property and lives. Towards this end, understanding the relationship between large scale BSISO variability and local precipitation should help improve forecasts. Furthermore, this knowledge could help improve large scale climate models, which currently struggle to simulate the interaction between large scale variability and local, daily weather.