Typhoons will still hit the Philippines in the last quarter of 2009 even if the El Niño phenomenon sets in, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

Dr. Prisco Nilo, PAGASA director, said the El Niño forecast to hit the country in the last quarter is only moderate and thus would not prevent typhoons from forming and entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

El Niño, Spanish word for “The Child”, is a weather phenomenon associated with the unusual warming in the Equatorial Pacific which brings below normal rainfall during the late months of the year, or about Christmas time, thus the moniker.

“There would still be typhoons as this is just moderate El Niño. If it’s strong El Niño, either there would be lesser number of typhoons or there would be no typhoons at all,” Nilo explained of the possible onset of El Niño.

“It’s possible for the El Niño to set in the last quarter of 2009,” Nilo said, noting the continuous “warming of sea surface temperature in equatorial Pacific ocean above .5 degree Celcius.”

He urged concerned government agencies to create an action plan to mitigate the effects of the possible drought such as shortages of food, power and water.

Eleven typhoons have so far entered the PAR this year, the latest of which was “Kiko” which poured heavy rains resulting to flooding and devastation in many areas of the country a couple of weeks ago.

On average, the country gets some 20 typhoons yearly.

Another potential typhoon, a low-pressure area (LPA), was spotted 430 kilometers east of the Visayas at 2 a.m. on Sunday.

PAGASA said Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies and scattered rains and thunderstorms because of the shallow low-pressure area — a rain inducing weather system.

“The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening. Light to moderate winds blowing from the east and southeast will prevail throughout the archipelago with slight to moderate seas except during thunderstorms,” the weather bureau said.