Children play in the rain on bad weather caused by Southwest monsoon in Paco, Manila. INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
While Typhoon “Fabian” (international name: In-fa)—which strengthened the southwest monsoon—is forecast to be out of the Philippine area of responsibility by Saturday, the state weather bureau said that parts of Luzon will still experience monsoon rains in the next 24 hours.
In its weather bulletin issued on Friday afternoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Fabian was located 540 kilometers northeast of Itbayat, Batanes.
The weather disturbance was heading northwest to Mainland China at a speed of 10 km per hour.
Fabian’s maximum sustained winds clocked in at 150 kph and its gusts at 185 kph.
Throughout the forecast period, Fabian did not directly bring rain to the country, but the typhoon enhanced the persisting southwest monsoon, locally known as habagat, leading to heavy rainfall in the past week.
Ilocos Region, as well as Abra, Benguet, Zamabales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro provinces and the northern portion of Palawan are forecast to experience scattered to widespread rain in the next 24 hours, Pagasa said.
Pagasa is also monitoring a tropical depression 2,770 km east-northeast of Itbayat, Batanes.