Unexpected chill brings frost to Benguet flowers despite El Niño

BAGUIO CITY — Frost on Thursday morning coated flowers grown at a farm tourism destination in Atok, Benguet, surprising its owner, who expected the cold to occur later in the Yuletide season amid a very strong El Niño.

PJ Haight, proprietor of Haight’s Place in Barangay Paoay, shared photos of frost covering flowers at his farm, where he claimed temperatures dropped to 10 degrees Celsius at around 6 a.m., based on his own monitoring.

“First strike. We thought we would not have frost because of El Niño, but here it is!” Haight said in a social media post.

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READ: Cool weather expected in PH despite Super El Niño — Pagasa

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Frost last appeared in Atok in December 2025, making this year’s occurrence earlier than expected, Haight said. He said, however, that November frost was not unprecedented, although he could no longer recall when it had occurred.

The frost has not caused noticeable damage to the plants because the iced layer was thin, he said. He expects the frost to become thicker toward the end of January and through February, when it typically becomes more pronounced in the area.

But while the frost has not threatened the plants, Haight said the more immediate concern for farmers is whether they will have enough water for the next cropping cycle.

“We have learned to deal with frost and how to minimize its impact on our crops,” he said. 

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But for the dreaded El Nino, they could only adjust their planting schedule. 

He said they timed their planting schedule to take advantage of water reserves replenished by prolonged rains in July and August. 

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They expect to harvest their crops by March, when they will have to reassess available water sources before deciding whether to plant again.

“If the water sources have dried up by then, we might not plant because it would be useless. The plants would die without water,” he said.

Haight said they were not aware of other ways to cope with El Niño. 

He also said he had not yet heard of any specific measures from the Atok municipal agriculture office to help farmers prepare for the dry conditions.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Wednesday that a very strong El Niño was already present in the tropical Pacific.

READ: ‘Very strong’ El Niño now active in tropical Pacific, says Pagasa

 It is expected to persist until the first half of 2027 and could peak before the end of this year.

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Pagasa said most parts of the country were expected to experience below-normal to way-below-normal rainfall in November, although heavy rains could still occur with tropical cyclones and other rain-bearing weather systems./coa