×
Home > Blog > Weather

Fools No More: Weather Myths You Should Stop Believing

Weather plays an important role in our lives. By monitoring the weather, we are equipped to handle our routines and are prepared for possible hazards.

But in this day and age where ideas can be disseminated with the click of a mouse, it’s our responsibility to verify before sharing them. To get you started, here are some weather myths that need to be debunked.

1) Climate and weather are the same.

This is one of the most common weather misconceptions that can be clarified by understanding one important factor – time.

Weather refers to the condition of the atmosphere over a short period of time. It is what we experience when we step outside on any day: sunny, windy, cloudy, rainy or stormy. Climate, on the other hand, refers to how the atmosphere behaves over a relatively long period of time, usually 30 years or more.

2) Lightning never strikes the same place twice.

Originating from an idiom which means that a highly unlikely incident can never happen to the same person twice, this myth–when taken seriously— can actually lead to misfortune.
The truth is that tall, pointed, isolated objects can generate strong electric fields that can be repeatedly struck by lightning.

In the Philippines for example, lightning has struck the Metro Rail Transit lines thrice in the past years, halting operations. In fact, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) explained that cloud-to-ground lightning frequently strikes the ground in two or more places. The chances of being struck are about 45% higher than what most of us commonly assume.

3) Sun + Rains = Tikbalang Wedding

According to Philippine folklore, whenever rains fall while the sun is shining, it means that a mythical creature called tikbalang (a half-human, half horse trickster that hangs out in the forests and mountains, leading travelers astray) is being wed.

PAGASA explains that both sunshine and rain may occur at the same time during the Hot and Dry Season. Called “sun showers”, this happens when the ground surface heats up, resulting to a vertical movement of warm air. This forms clouds that bring precipitation while the sun is at a 30-degree angle from the earth. This weather phenomenon most likely occurs in the months of March, April and May.

4) There is summer in the Philippines.

Summer vacations, summer adventures and summer getaways are some phrases we off-handedly use during school break from March to May. do you know that there is no summer here in the country?

According to PAGASA, the Philippines, being a tropical country, has only two official seasons – wet and dry. A season refers to the time of the year caused by the tilting of the Earth. The location of an area, whether it is in the northern or southern hemisphere, affects its seasons. Other regions have complete seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall.

In Philippine context, the Hot and Dry Season is the equivalent of summer. This marks the start of warm and humid days.