PAGASA’s PANaHON app is now on your phone. Here’s what it does.
The state weather bureau launched PANaHON on mobile on June 16, 2026. It’s been running as a website since 2025. This is the app version.
Most weather apps in the Philippines pull from international platforms that weren’t built for a typhoon-prone archipelago with 7,000 islands and wildly localized rainfall patterns. PANaHON runs on PAGASA’s own data, pulled from their network of synoptic stations and automatic weather stations across the country.
The launch happened during Typhoon and Flood Awareness Week. The name doubles as an acronym (PAGASA National Hydro-Meteorological Observing Network) and the Filipino word for weather. The target user is the general public, not meteorologists.
What it actually does
Location pinning. You can use your current location, pin favorites, and search anywhere in the Philippines. The alerts you get are for where you actually are or care about.
Weather outlook. Daily and hourly forecasts, plus a five-day outlook for select cities and tourist spots. Standard stuff, but the data is local.
Interactive map. Radar mosaic, satellite images, gridded forecast overlays. Warning icons for thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, cyclone bulletins, and flood advisories. Tap any icon and text details pop up. You can zoom in and out across the entire country, and a time-slider lets you visualize forecast movement.
Push notifications. Enable them once. After that, real-time advisories come to you: tropical cyclone bulletins, thunderstorm warnings, heavy rainfall alerts, flood advisories. For your pinned location, not just a generic national alert.
Why it exists now
PAGASA information officer Loren Joy Estrebillo said almost 70% of users accessing the PAGASA website and the panahon.gov.ph platform were already doing so on mobile. The desktop site wasn’t built for that. This app was. It’s a mobile-first version of information PAGASA already had; the main change is how you get to it.
The app also compiles observation data from both synoptic and automatic weather stations across the country, so it’s pulling from the actual ground network, not interpolated data.
One thing to know before you download
To use push notifications, you’ll need to allow location access and agree to data terms. The app will share device information, usage analytics, location data (when enabled), and notification preferences. PAGASA says this will comply with the Data Privacy Act. Worth reading before you grant it.
PAGASA describes it as a complement to your phone’s built-in weather forecast. For general forecasts, either works. For typhoon-related anything, this one is pulling from the actual source.
PANaHON is available now on the eGov mobile application. Download through your platform’s app store.
