MANILA, Philippines — A cloud cluster outside of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) in the Central Pacific Ocean may develop into a low-pressure area (LPA) in the next 24 hours, state meteorologists said on Wednesday.
In a morning weather report, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) specialist Benison Estareja said that while they are not seeing any LPA entering the country, they are monitoring the cloud cluster, which may bring rainfall in some parts of Visayas and Mindanao in the coming days.
“This low-pressure area weather disturbance might enter the PAR over the weekend and bring rain to a large part of Visayas and Mindanao early next week,” Estajera advised, saying that if the cloud cluster were to turn into an LPA, it would affect the southern parts of the country.
Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon, locally known as amihan, and the easterlies are likely to dampen parts of the Philippines with isolated rains on Wednesday, the state weather bureau said.
Easterlies are warm winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean.
In a weather bulletin, the Pagasa said that cloudy skies with light rains will likely occur in Cagayan Valley, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Aurora, and Quezon due to the northeast monsoon.
The northeast monsoon may also bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains in the Ilocos Region, the rest of Central Luzon, and the rest of the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Estajera noted that for the rest of Luzon – including Metro Manila, western Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon), Bicol region, and Mimaropa (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) – the weather is likely to be sunny, but chances of isolated light rains cannot be ruled out.
Meanwhile, in Visayas, the easterlies will bring overcast skies and some rainfall in Northern and Eastern Samar.
However, the weather bureau noted that the chance of rainfall in other parts of Visayas remains low.
“To our compatriots in Mindanao (…) there’s a high chance of rain in Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, and in the provinces of Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur due to the easterlies, while it will be partly cloudy and sometimes sunny in the rest of Mindanao,” the weather specialist said in Filipino during a morning weather report.
Despite the chances of light rainfall, the country might still experience hot and humid weather due to the easterlies.
Estajera advised that temperatures in Zamboanga City, Cotabato City, and General Santos City may reach up to 34 degrees Celsius.
Metro Manila and its neighboring areas may experience temperatures up to 33 degrees Celsius, while Visayas may experience temperatures up to 31 degrees Celsius.
No gale warning was issued for the country’s seaboards on Wednesday.