Tropical depression weakens into LPA but may again become cyclone

Weather satellite image from Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines — The tropical depression east of southeastern Mindanao has weakened into a low-pressure area (LPA) but may intensify into a cyclone again before it enters the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), the state weather agency said Tuesday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the weather disturbance may reach the PAR late Wednesday or early Thursday.

In its advisory at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Pagasa said the LPA will “move erratically and may meander near or around its present position in the next 24 hours.” The LPA was last located 1,620 kilometers east of southeastern Mindanao.

“Unfavorable environment may prevent this weather disturbance from significantly organizing during the same period. Afterwards, a slight improvement in the environmental conditions will allow this disturbance to reorganize and re-develop into a tropical depression,” Pagasa said.

The state weather bureau added that the LPA is moving south-southwestward at 10 kilometers per hour and will continue in that direction while gradually intensifying until Friday, November 17. If it regains strength to become a tropical depression, it will be given the domestic name “Kabayan” once it enters PAR.

In an early Tuesday public report, however, Pagasa weather specialist Grace Castañeda said that while they predict that the LPA will strengthen into a tropical depression again, they are also not discounting the possibility of it staying an LPA throughout the forecast period.

But regardless of these outlooks, the LPA and the northeast monsoon (locally termed amihan) may still cause heavy rain over eastern Mindanao on Friday and in the eastern parts of the Bicol Region and most of Visayas on Saturday, November 18, according to Pagasa, warning that possible flash floods and landslides may occur in affected areas.

It issued general flood advisories for Quezon, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Albay, Masbate, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, and Biliran.

As for the country’s seaboards, Pagasa maintained its gale warning over the coasts of Batanes, Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, Isabela, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La Union.

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