Manila Climate Patterns

Manila has a tropical savanna climate, which here means hot every day and a sharp division between dry and wet halves of the year.

Temperature

Warm to hot throughout, with highs from 30°C in January to 35°C in April and May and nights rarely below 24°C. Humidity is high all year and the heat index in April frequently exceeds 40°C, which is when the city is at its most punishing.

The dry season

December to May, with the amihan north-east monsoon bringing the coolest and most pleasant conditions from December to February, followed by the hot dry months of March, April and May when it barely rains at all.

The wet season

June to November, driven by the habagat south-west monsoon. Around 2,000 millimetres a year falls almost entirely in this period, in intense afternoon and evening downpours. Streets flood within minutes, and a serious storm can put whole districts under water and stop the city entirely.

Typhoons

The Philippines is struck by around twenty tropical cyclones a year, more than any other country, and several pass close enough to Manila to bring flooding and shut schools, offices and flights. The season runs June to November and peaks from August to October.

Habagat rains

The most damaging flooding often comes not from a typhoon hitting the city but from an enhanced south-west monsoon, when a storm passing well to the north drags a continuous stream of moisture over Luzon for days. Those events have put a third of the metropolis under water more than once.

Practical effect

Plan around the heat and the afternoon rain; malls and museums are the middle-of-the-day strategy.