A day after some parts of Metro Manila were drenched by rains, air temperature in the metropolis shot up to 38.0 degrees Celsius Wednesday afternoon, the hottest day recorded this year.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) recorded the highest temperature of 38.0 degrees Celsius at the Science Garden in Quezon City at 2:10 p.m. Wednesday.

The latest data is significantly higher than the previous record of 37.5 degrees Celsius in Metro Manila last May 19.

Minimum temperature recorded in the metropolis at 6 a.m. Wednesday was also a bit high with 27.4 degrees Celsius.

The highest temperature was recorded at the time PAGASA is monitoring the possible onset of rainy season, which is expected by the last week of May or first week of June, as the current El Niño continues to weaken.

Earlier, PAGASA Administrator Prisco Nilo also noted that 2010 is the hottest year of the decade based on global warming trends.

According to PAGASA’s 5 a.m. weather bulletin yesterday, the tail-end of a cold front continues to affect Northern and Central Luzon, while the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) also affects Mindanao.

It said Mindanao and Northern and Central Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms.

The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Based on the PAGASA data, the hottest temperature in Philippine history is at 42.2 degrees Celsius, recorded in Tuguegarao, Cagayan on May 11, 1969.

Meanwhile, the hottest day in Metro Manila was at 38.5 on May 14, 1987. (Ellalyn de Vera)