MANILA, Philippines?Typhoon ?Pepeng? on Sunday tarried off northern Luzon and threatened to return to the region for a second whammy, drawn by a new monster storm churning in the Pacific, 2,000 kilometers east of the Philippines, weathermen said.

?Most likely the rains will persist longer than expected,? said weather bureau chief Nathaniel Cruz of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) at a press briefing.

Pagasa earlier forecast that Pepeng (international name: Parma) would continue to bring strong winds and heavy rains to several provinces in the north for two to three days.

A few hours later, meteorologists detected that Pepeng would ?loop back? to the region, sucked in by a new typhoon, internationally designated as ?Melor,? moving west northeast at 24 kilometers per hour.

More rains

Melor, packing maximum winds of 195 kph, was expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility later Monday afternoon. It will be designated as ?Quedan? when it does so?the 17th storm to hit the Philippines this year.

?If Pepeng loops, it will hit northern Luzon again and perhaps even central Luzon,? Cruz said.

He said that from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Pagasa had already recorded 201.1 millimeters of rainfall in Laoag City in Ilocos Norte province and 169 mm in Sinait village in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

?This is what we?re afraid of. This is only the first day of Pepeng in northern Luzon and we don?t know how much rainfall there?d be for the next several days. The areas could experience flooding and landslides,? he said.

Cruz said that if residents in Ilocos Norte noticed a ?lull? in the typhoon, they could expect the weather to worsen in the coming days.

Looping back

Cruz said that the winds brought by Pepeng were still strong that even Pagasa?s station near Laoag was nearly hit by debris from a damaged guard house on Sunday.

?Ilocos Norte officials thought it was over and were already thankful not knowing that this is already happening to Pepeng,? Cruz said, referring to its looping back.

As of 10 p.m., Pagasa spotted the eye of Pepeng at 200 km north-northwest of Laoag, packing maximum winds of 120 kph near the center and gustiness of 150 kph.

It was ?almost stationary? and was expected to be at 260 km north-northwest of Laoag Monday afternoon.

?We don?t expect (Melor) to make a landfall in the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR). Once it enters the PAR, it will move north to northeast out of PAR,? Cruz said.

?Fujiwara effect?

Pagasa also expects Pepeng to follow Melor as they both move toward the northeast and merge as they make their way out of the Philippine area of responsibility in an interaction called the ?Fujiwara effect.?

Cruz said that Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon would experience cloudiness and occasional rains.

Public Storm Signal No. 3 remains hoisted over Ilocos Norte, Apayao, the Batanes Group of Islands, and northern Cagayan, including Babuyan and Calayan Islands.

Signal No. 2 is up in Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga and the rest of Cagayan.

Signal No. 1 is raised over La Union, Benguet, Mountain Province and northern Isabela.