MANILA, Philippines — A low pressure area (LPA) off San Vicente, Palawan, embedded along the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), will bring scattered rains to parts of Luzon including Metro Manila and the Visayas, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) reported Sunday.
In its early morning update, Pagasa said cloudy skies and rain showers are expected in Metro Manila, Western Visayas, Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna,Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) regions, Bicol region and the provinces of Aurora and Bulacan.
The LPA is expected to intensify into a tropical depression.
“Kaninang alas-tres, nasa area po siya ng banda diyan sa may Palawan area na kung saan posible mag-develop ito into a tropical depression within the next 48 hours at papangalanan po nating Odette,” Pagasa weather specialist Ezra Bulquerin said.
(Earlier at 3 a.m., the LPA was spotted in the vicinity of Palawan and may develop into a tropical depression within the next 48 hours and will be locally named Odette.)
Batanes and Babuyan Islands, meanwhile, will have cloudy skies with rains brought by the northeasterly surface windflow.
The rest of the country will have a fair weather conditions or partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to the ITCZ and localized thunderstorms.
Pagasa is also monitoring an active tropical depression outside the Philippine area of responsibility 1,580 kilometers east of the Visayas as of 3 a.m. Sunday.
Warning:Rough seas up north!
A gale warning is up over Batanes, Ilocos Norte, northern and eastern coast of Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, and Isabela.
“So, expect po natin na magiging maalon hanggang sa napakaalon ‘yung sea condition kaya’t pinagbabawal po ‘yung paglaot ng ating mga kababayang mangingisda o ‘yung may maliliit na sasakyang pandagat. ‘Wag po muna sila pumalaot sa mga areas na nabanggit,” Bulquerin advised.
(Expect sea conditions to be rough so venturing out at sea for our fisherfolk or those with small sea vessels is not advisable. Do not set sail in affected areas.