MANILA, Philippines—Tropical depression "Auring" is still hanging around the country but has weakened into a low-pressure area, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Tuesday.

Nathaniel Cruz, Pagasa chief, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the low-pressure area remained within the country’s area of responsibility.

“Auring is still inside our area of responsibility but it has weakened into a low pressure area,” Cruz said.

A low-pressure area is a region where atmospheric pressure is lowest compared to the surrounding areas. It is also the germ of tropical storms and typhoons.

He explained that the weakening of Auring was caused by the blowing of the northeast monsoon which “dissipated” the tropical depression.

The northeast monsoon is a mass of cold air blowing from the northern hemisphere into the country starting October until February or March and causes the dropping of temperatures in the country.

Because of the weakening of Auring, PAGASA has taken out all public storm warning signals.

Cruz added that the low-pressure area is moving out of the country in an eastward direction and would not bring any more rains to the country.

“The weather disturbance is on its way out and its effects would be insignificant,” Cruz said.

He said any rains in any part of the country would be brought about by frontal systems, which are caused by two masses of air of different densities that can cause rain.

According PAGASA’s weather bulletin, the low-pressure area was spotted at 620 kilometers east of Virac, Catanduanes.

PAGASA also said a cold front was still affecting Luzon and Eastern Visayas.

The weather bureau said Luzon and Eastern Visayas will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rains with the rest of the country partly cloudy with isolated light rains.

The northeast monsoon is expecting to continue surging and will affect the northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon and Visayas.