The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Friday that the public should expect warmer days this month.

Rusy Abastillos, of the PAGASA Climatological and Agrometerological Division (CAD), said the persistence of the El Niño in the Pacific Ocean near the equator will make summer come early this year.

Abastillos said the El Niño had already made January nights generally warmer, citing a slight rise in temperature that ranges from 0.1 to a full degree Celsius all over the country last month.

She said the warmest temperature recorded last month was an unusually high 36.2 degrees Celsius in General Santos City despite the northeast monsoon bringing in cold winds from China last January 1.

The weather specialist explained that the figure brought the average temperature in the country's tuna capital all the way up 33 degrees Celsius last month, a full degree warmer than its historical average of 32 degrees.

Abastillos said Metro Manila experienced a temperature average of 31.2 degrees Celsius, which was .8 degrees warmer than what city residents felt during January in previous years.

The climate expert also noted a rise of .4 degrees Celsius in temperature in Baguio last month for an average of 13.3 degrees Celsius for the whole of January.

She said Baguio’s temperature average in January was 12.9 degrees Celsius in a normal year without El Niño, which has caused a dry spell in at least 20 provinces in the country.