RESIDENTS and visitors remain immersed in the chilly 11.6-degrees Celsius temperature after having the rare time Sunday morning in a teeth gnashing temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, so far the lowest temperature recorded here this year by the state weather bureau.

Rolando Bagorio, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) here, said last Saturday morning with a temperature of 10.5 degrees Celsius offered the prelude of a lower temperature the following day.

“At that time, the northeast monsoon has become more intense. The possibility for the temperature to further fall. In the city, the lowest recorded in its history was sometime in February 1961 when the temperature decreased to 6.2 degrees, barely missing the freezing point,” he said.

Early churchgoers were those mostly affected that they have to wear winter clothes, including gloves and mufflers.

The cold weather in the city has through the years become the greatest factor to draw more tourists to this mountain resort 250 kilometers north of Manila.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) confirmed heavier frosting in the Benguet farmlands, especially in Atok town, some 35 kilometers north from here.

However, Robert Domogue, a DA information officer in the Cordilleras, said farmers continue to produce their usual volume of crops from the area with the use of overhead irrigation system and fighting out the frost adverse effects by burning grasses at the terraces and fields, as well as building more greenhouses for frost sensitive plants like strawberries, potatoes and cabbage. (Aure Galacgac)