BENGUET — Frost has blanketed vegetable farms as temperatures in the towns of Atok and Kibungan, as well as in other parts of the province, continued to plunge to single-digit levels.
On Friday, farmer PJ Haight, who has several temperature-reading devices, posted on his social media account that the ground temperature in Barangay Paoay, Atok town, dropped to below 5 degrees Celsius.
Haight also shared photos showing vegetables, grass and flowers blanketed with frost — a phenomenon that the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said usually occurs when temperatures fall below 10 degrees.
Pagasa reported that frost, locally known as andap, could continue to occur in high-elevation areas as the coldest period of the northeast monsoon or amihan season approaches.
Earlier, hikers also posted on social media that sections of Mount Pulag — the highest peak in Luzon at 2,926 meters above sea level — were covered with early morning frost.
In Baguio City, the country’s Summer Capital, temperatures also dropped to 11 degrees on Thursday and 13 degrees on Friday.
Farmers in Benguet have long adopted measures to protect their crops from damage.
Vegetable leaves covered with frost usually dry up when exposed to sunlight.
The Department of Agriculture has provided farmers with water pumps, drums, hoses, power sprayers and seeds to prevent crop wastage.
Temperatures in Benguet usually dip from December to March.
The lowest recorded temperature in Baguio was 6.3 degrees on Jan. 18, 1961.
Baguio also had the second-lowest temperature drop, 6.7 degrees on Feb. 28, 1963, and the third, 6.8 degrees on Jan. 8, 1986.