In the Philippines, ''Amihan'' refers to the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

dominated by the

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisp ...

, which are experienced in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as a ''cool northeast wind''. It is characterized by moderate temperatures, little or no rainfall in the central and western part of Luzon and Visayas, and a prevailing wind from the east. On the east coast of Luzon it brings drizzling rainfall and squalls. The effect on Mindanao is relatively less than in the northern part of the country. As a rule of thumb, the Philippines' ''amihan'' weather pattern begins sometime in November or December and ends sometime in May or June. There may, however, be wide variations from year to year. Throughout the rest of the year, the Philippines experiences the west or southwest wind; south west monsoon, which in turn is referred to as the ''Habagat''. The ''habagat'' season is characterized by hot and humid weather, frequent heavy rainfall, and a prevailing wind from the western parts. The main indicator of the switch between the ''amihan'' and ''habagat'' seasonal patterns is the switch in wind direction. In most years this transition is abrupt and occurs overnight. In some years there is a period of perhaps a week or two where the wind will switch between ''amihan'' and ''habagat'' patterns several times before settling into the pattern for the new season to come.

In culture

* Amihan (mythology) is a bird in the

Philippine mythology Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...

. According to the Tagalog folklore, Amihan is the first creature to inhabit the universe, along with the gods called

Bathala In the indigenous religion of the ancient Tagalogs, Bathala Maykapal was the transcendent Supreme Being, the originator and ruler of the universe. He is commonly known and referred to in the modern era as Bathala, a term or title which, in ea ...

and Aman Sinaya. In the legend Amihan is described as a bird that saves the first human beings, Malakas and Maganda, from a bamboo plant.

References

Winds {{Philippines-stub

In culture

See also

References