DMet and VSU AgroMet station to issue localized weather updates on May 1

To improve the university’s localized warning system that will help save people's lives, properties, and agricultural commodities, the Department of Meteorology (DMet) together with the VSU Agrometeorological Station (AgroMet), and the University Integrated Media Center (UIMC) have joined forces in providing daily updates on weather-related information and important bulletins.

This initiative will begin on May 1, 2024, by providing a real-time heat index report within the VSU community, which is measured and verified by an in-house staff of the VSU AgroMet Station that is jointly managed by the university and the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

As a start of this initiative, VSU’s official Facebook page will be carrying this daily heat index report that will be posted daily every noon beginning on the commemoration of the National Labor Day celebration.

UIMC Head Dr. Ulderico B. Alviola hosted a meeting at the VSU Department of Development Communication (DDC) with the DMet Head Mr. Charlie S. Andan on April 30, 2024, while the university is currently implementing a wellness break for faculty, staff, and students following the successful conclusion of the VSU Centennial festivities held last week.

During this meeting, the collaborators decided to make an instant reconnaissance trip to the VSU AgroMet Station to demonstrate how the localized heat index is measured and submitted to the Visayas PAGASA Regional Services Division (PRSD) based in Mactan, Cebu for monitoring and evaluation.

 DMet, VSU AgroMet Station, and the UIMC agreed to immediately provide the localized heat index reporting considering the ongoing El Niño being experienced in the whole country that has caused massive concern because of its current impacts on health, agriculture, energy supply, and overall human productivity.

 The VSU AgroMet Station is currently headed by Ms. Rocelle M. Salentes (Officer-in-Charge), and Ms. Sheila Trina May Cadeliña (Science  Research Aide) who has been regularly providing localized heat index measures via her personal social media page for the past weeks. 

It is projected that the heat index may still rise until the middle of May this year with Filipinos enduring extreme heat because of the ongoing El Niño phenomenon. State weather bureau PAGASA expects more areas all over the country to reach dangerous heat index values in the coming weeks prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes and authorities issuing important health warnings.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) in their recent press briefing reported that the damage brought by El Niño to the agriculture and farming sector alone has already swelled to 4.39 billion pesos.

With this, localized efforts to report weather bulletins are badly needed in the erratic climate conditions that we have. To respond to this, DMet, VSU AgroMet, and UIMC agreed to expand their partnerships even beyond the ongoing El Niño especially since it is projected that the country will experience La Niña in the coming months.

DMet Head Mr. Andan expressed his enthusiasm to work with UIMC on future initiatives that will improve localized weather reporting within the university and its neighboring communities. 

“We’re very glad UIMC is willing to work with us on this small initiative that we hope to expand in the coming days by doing our very own localized weather press briefings that can be accessed by our community people via our official social media pages. We’re also excited that Dr. Alviola was willing to provide us with help in doing technical multimedia production training for broadcasting which is needed by our department to train our students better. These are some of the initial things that we can work on and we’re excited on how to take this forward in the future,” the DMet Head explained.

Part of the things that will be conducted in the future include the possible incorporation of weekly weather forecasts in the slider of the VSU website so that the public will be aware of localized weather bulletins regularly. Another future initiative is the incorporation of weather reports in the VSU Radio DYDC-FM daily and weekly news programs.

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