Pagasa monitors new LPA off Pacific Ocean

REBUILDING Residents of Ubay, Bohol, dig through piles of debris to find anything they can use to rebuild their homes destroyed by Typhoon “Odette,” as it battered the Visayas and Mindanao last week. —LEO UDTOHAN

MANILA, Philippines — After the havoc wreaked by Typhoon Odette, the state weather bureau is tracking a new low pressure area off the Pacific Ocean.

But the weather disturbance on the east side of the Philippines is still too far away to affect the country, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Monday.

“Ito ay malayong-malayo pa sa ating banasa. Patuloy po natin itong babantayan,” said Pagasa weather specialist Aldzar Aurelio.

The Philippines is still reeling from the onslaught of Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai), which left a trail of destruction in parts of Visayas and Mindanao just a few days before Christmas.

Aurelio said Odette is already out of the Philippine area of responsibility and is no longer affecting the country’s weather system.

However, the northeast monsoon in Northern Luzon remains to be the dominant weather system in the country.

The presence of a shear line is also affecting the eastern section of Northern and Central Luzon, bringing light to moderate rains and occasional thunderstorms that may cause floods in low-lying areas.

Cagayan Valley and Aurora will have cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms, while Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains.

Meanwhile, gale warning due to the northeast monsoon is raised over the whole seaboard of Northern Luzon, eastern seaboard of Central Luzon, eastern and western seaboard of Southern Luzon.

“Ang mga lugar na ito ay makakaranas ng magiging maalon o maalon, kaya paaalala sa ating mga kababayan na huwag muna pumalaot sa mga lugar na ito dahil po ang taas ng alon ay aabot hanggang 4.5 meters,” Aurelio said.

EDV