Interaksyon.com reports that on Thursday, February 23, at around 2 p.m., the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the temperature in Metro Manila reached 34.4 degrees Celsius. So far, it was the hottest day in 2012. The report noted: "This was still a few degrees lower than June 5, 2011's hottest temperature in the country's capital, 36.4 degrees Celsius."

Interaskyon.com quoted PAGASA weather forecaster Gener Quitlong, who said  that "Metro Manila will get hotter in the coming months, especially with the prevailing easterlies, which are warm, moist winds coming from the Pacific Ocean." However, he added that the rest of the country "particularly northernmost Luzon, the Bicol region, Western Visayas and the entire Mindanao still experienced scattered to widespread rains due to the prevailing La Niña (a weather phenomenon characterized by a prolonged wet season and is expected to peak this month)."

For the record, the report noted: "The hottest day in Manila's history was May 14, 1987, when the temperature soared to 38.5 degrees Celsius." Meanwhile, the hottest day in the Philippines was "recorded in Tugegarao on May 11, 1969 at 42.2 degrees Celsius."

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