Rains to continue over eastern Mindanao, Visayas

MANILA, Philippines—For the folks in the eastern parts of Mindanao and the Visayas, there will be no respite from the rain.

Cloudiness associated with the tail-end of a cold front will bring heavy rain over eastern Mindanao and Visayas between Saturday and Sunday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Saturday.

The band of clouds cover a broad area, including Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Davao Oriental, the Agusan provinces, the Davao provinces and Compostela Valley, where a mining community was hit by a landslide that killed at least 28 people on Thursday.

“It will be rainy in those areas, which could trigger flash floods and landslides,’’ Pagasa forecaster Nikos Peñaranda said in a phone interview. “There will be thunderstorms that could be associated with heavy rainfall.”

Over the past days, bands of clouds have been appearing, disappearing and reappearing over Mindanao, but there has been no sign of a a new low pressure area developing there, the forecaster said.

The tail-end of the cold front, a convergence of cold and warm air, will also blanket eastern Visayas with cloudiness that would bring frequent rain on Saturday and Sunday, Pagasa said.

“The rain may trigger flash floods and landslides,” Peñaranda added.

The northeast monsoon (amihan) is the prevailing weather system affecting the main island of Luzon, and would bring frequent rain over the eastern sections, particularly the Bicol region, he said.

“In Metro Manila, we should expect mostly cloudy skies,” he said.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with the possible occurrence of light rain is expected during the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Monday, Pagasa said.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast would prevail over Luzon  and the Visayas and the coastal waters in these areas would be moderate to rough.

Pagasa said Batanes, Cagayan and Ilocos Norte should expect colder weather because of the amihan in the coming days.