Generally fair weather seen in most parts of PH this week

MANILA, Philippines -The weather will be generally fair in most parts of the country this week even as scattered rain showers brought by the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and monsoon rains are expected to affect Northern and Central Luzon and parts of Mindanao.

Glaiza Escullar, forecaster at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said better weather could be expected following last week’s widespread rains and heavy flooding over Luzon brought by Tropical Storm Falcon.

Falcon left the Philippines Saturday morning, dissolving a low pressure area that aggravated the weather condition over Luzon.

“There will be good weather in southern Luzon and Visayas while it will be cloudy in Mindanao because of the ITCZ and cloudy in Northern and Southern Luzon because of the southwest monsoon,” Escullar said.

Metro Manila, which experienced unusual levels of rainfall because of the monsoon last week, will see mostly clear skies and only occasional rains, according to Pagasa.

The weather bureau spotted a cloud band brewing east of Mindanao, but Escullar said it was too soon to tell if it would develop into a low pressure area.

“Based on models, it might form [into an LPA] Wednesday but we cannot say for sure because the model changes and updates every day,” she said.

As of Sunday morning, PAGASA retained its flood and landslide warnings to upper Luzon provinces, including Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Mt. Province, Abra, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

The weather bureau also cautioned fishermen in coastal areas in Luzon to stay inland as big waves are expected at sea due to the monsoon surge.