Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. narrated that the impacts of the El Niño will be felt until August of this year.

Likewise, Solidum said that based on the figures on how many provinces will be affected by the continued drought and dry spell, to which the phenomenon is said to persist from April to August. 

''The forecast for the ongoing effects of El Niño would continue for April – we have 48 provinces to be affected by drought; 24 dry spell; but by May, it will be 54 provinces to be provinces to be affected by drought and 10 dry spell. So, almost the same if you combine both the drought and dry spell but the drought-affected provinces will continue to persist based on DOST-PAGASA’s outlook – 25 by June, 23 by July and 10 by August,'' Solidum said.
Solidum also said that there will be some provinces that will still be affected by the combined effect of El Niño and the preparation for La Niña.

''Hence, we need to continue doing the operations for El Niño preparedness but also keeping in mind that we need to prepare for La Niña in the second half of the year,'' he said. 

It will be recalled that Solidum said that there will be a 62% chance that the country will experience La Niña by June.

"Although the El Niño will transition to neutral by April, May, June 2024 season, there is also the increasing probability of La Niña at 62% in June, July, August season,'' said Solidum.

The El Niño phenomenon is characterized by the abnormal warming of sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean and below normal rainfall.

La Niña, on the other hand, is usually associated with above-normal rainfall conditions. Its potential adverse impacts include floods and landslides in vulnerable areas, according to PAGASA