Pagasa: Tropical depression forms outside PAR, occasional rains expected

MANILA, Philippines — The low- pressure area (LPA) outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) has intensified into a tropical depression on Tuesday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the weather disturbance was spotted 610 kilometers (km) west-southwest of Iba, Zambales, at 3 a.m. on Tuesday.

Its trough or extension will bring cloudy skies with scattered rains over Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Cavite and Batangas.

It packs maximum sustained winds of 45 km per hour (kph) with gustiness up to 55 kph and is almost stationary, Pagasa added.

Meanwhile, a frontal system, which will affect extreme Northern Luzon, will bring the same weather condition to the Ilocos region, Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley.

The Caraga and Davao regions will likewise experience scattered rain showers and thunderstorms brought about by an intertropical convergence zone, Pagasa said.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country, meanwhile, will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers.

Pagasa warned that flash floods and landslides are possible in affected areas.

Extreme Northern Luzon will have moderate to strong wind speed moving northeastward with moderate to rough coastal waters.

Moderate to strong wind speeds from southwest to southeast will likewise prevail over the western sections of Central and Southern Luzon, while coastal conditions will be moderate to rough, the weather bureau said.

The rest of Luzon, as well as the Visayas and Mindanao,  will experience light to moderate winds from southwest to west, with slight to moderate coastal waters.  /gsg