The Philippines averages around twenty tropical cyclones entering its area of responsibility each year, and roughly eight or nine of them make landfall. They are not spread evenly through the year.

Activity builds from June, peaks in the second half, and October is historically the heaviest month for landfalls. PAGASA is the authority on the climatology and on every forecast; what follows is what to do with the pattern.

Why the calendar matters for a property decision

Because it decides what you can see. A property viewed in March shows you the dry version. The same property in October shows you the version that matters. If your timeline allows it, view in the wet months. The list of what to look at is in visit the lot in the rain.

Because it decides your deadlines. If you are buying to renovate, or you already own and are planning work, October is a bad month to have a roof open. Work backwards from it.

Because it decides what your neighbours remember. Ask about October specifically. It is the month with the most recent examples, so the answers are sharper.

The regional split people forget

Peak season is a national statement. Where the damage lands is regional, and it moves through the year.

• Early season (June to September) favours the habagat pattern: heavy monsoon rain enhanced by storms passing to the north, soaking the western side of Luzon. See habagat season.
• Peak season (September to November) brings the most landfalls, often crossing Luzon and the Visayas from the east.
• Late season (December to February) shifts the rain to the eastern seaboard and Mindanao via the amihan and the shear line. See the shear line and amihan and the east coast.

So there is no month in which the whole country is quiet, and there is no property that is exposed in all of them. Which season tests your address depends on where it is and what the terrain does.

What the peak season does not change

The map. Mapped flood susceptibility, elevation, slope, landslide susceptibility, storm surge exposure, and fault distance describe the ground. They are the same in March and in October.

The season tells you how often the trigger arrives. The screening tells you what happens at your address when it does. Both are useful and neither substitutes for the other.

An October checklist for a property you already own

1. Clean the gutters and the downspouts, and check where they discharge.
2. Clear the canal or drain in front of the property, and photograph it clean.
3. Check the roof fixings, especially at the edges and ridge, which is where wind starts.
4. Trim branches that overhang the roof or the power line.
5. Move anything valuable off the ground floor if you are in a mapped flood zone.
6. Confirm the insurance covers typhoon and flood, not just fire. See what calamity insurance excludes.
7. Agree the household plan: the trigger, the destination, and who takes what.

The longer version is in the one-hour check before the season turns.

An October checklist for a property you are buying

1. Screen the exact coordinates before you commit to anything.
2. If you can view during rain, do it, and go back a second time.
3. Ask what happened here in the last three Octobers.
4. Ask how long the water stayed and how long the road was cut.
5. Look for the physical evidence: water lines, silt fans, raised entrances, sandbags.
6. Check whether the seller is motivated by something that happened recently.
7. Keep the screening with your documents.

The honest limit

PAGASA is the authority on tropical cyclones, seasons, forecasts, and warnings. A hazard screening does not forecast anything. It reports what public national datasets say about the ground at your exact coordinates, which is the input that stays constant while the weather changes around it.

CheckHazard does not replace a professional geotechnical or engineering survey.