Summer? In the Philippines?

BuHaynayan 03 |May 2024

27 May 2024 | Grade 8, Science Subject Area

“World, it’s summertime!”

“Feels like summer when I’m with you, parang islang pantropiko”

“Summer vacation na!”

You might have heard these words before from your friends and family, social media and even in pop culture. But these refer to the warmer season in the Philippines. Sorry to burst your bubble but we don’t have summer in the Philippines. Summer season is a misnomer for the period of long occurrence of low rainfall in the country. In tropical countries like the Philippines, we only have two seasons: dry season and wet season. Countries at the mid-latitudes of the world like Japan, USA and the southern parts of Australia experience four seasons namely, winter, spring, summer and autumn.

So to better describe the season we have right now, dry season is the more appropriate term since we experience long periods of aridness, with minimal rain in the different parts of the country.

In what instance do you hear the term ‘summer’ to describe the season we have right now in the Philippines?

Reference:

[1] Cabato, L. (22 March 2024). Pagasa: Summer is officially here. Inquirer.net. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1921855/fwd-pagasa-declares-summer-time

[2] PAGASA (n.d.). Climate of the Philippines. Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/information/climate-philippines

[3] Smith, R. L., & Smith, T. M. (2015). Elements of Ecology, Global Edition. Pearson Education Canada.