File photo: Mount Pulag

BAGUIO – The temperature at Mt. Pulag, Luzon’s highest peak, dropped to 1 degree Celsius on Thursday, the coldest recorded so far this year.

The freezing weather caused frost to appear at the Badabak Ranger Station, said Emerita Albas, chief of the team managing the Mt. Pulag national park.

Authorities advised hikers and trekkers to bring body warmers or thermal gear, and wear winter clothes to avoid hypothermia, which can lead to health complications and even death if left unchecked.

Meanwhile, in Baguio City, temperature reached 11.6 degrees Celsius this Thursday, slightly warmer than the 11.2 degrees Celsius recorded on Tuesday.

According to weather bureau PAGASA, the cold weather is due to the northeast monsoon (hanging Amihan), affecting Luzon.

Meanwhile, the tail-end of a cold front is affecting Visayas and Mindanao.

PAGASA said in December that it may be slightly cooler than average in the mountainous areas of Luzon due to the effects of weather systems that usually influence conditions in the country at this time of year, such as the northeast monsoon.