Pagasa: Expect cloudy skies with isolated rains over PH on Saturday
The state weather bureau says the low pressure area off Mindanao may enter the Philippine area of responsibility this Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. (Satellite image of the Philippines from Pagasa)
MANILA, Philippines — The country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rains this Saturday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
According to the weather bureau, a major portion of the Philippines, including Metro Manila, may experience isolated rain showers and thunderstorms due to the easterlies or localized thunderstorms.
The Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Cagayan Valley, on the other hand, were forecast to experience isolated light rains due to the northeast monsoon.
According to weather specialist Obet Badrina, the northeast monsoon is expected to intensify, so a gale warning was raised in Batanes, wherein waves may reach more than four meters high.
READ: LPA off Mindanao may enter PAR in 24 hours, possible to become tropical cyclone
READ: Cloud cluster spotted outside PAR may turn into LPA in 24 hours — Pagasa
“Inaasahan nga natin yung patuloy na paglakas ng hanging amihan, kaya ngayon, nagtaas na tayo ng gale warning, particular na diyan sa baybayin ng extreme northern Luzon,” he said in their morning weather forecast.
(We expect the continued strengthening of the northeast monsoon, so now, we have raised a gale warning, particularly along the coast of extreme northern Luzon.)
Meanwhile, Badrina noted that the low pressure area off Mindanao may enter the Philippine area of responsibility within the day. He said it was last seen 1,225 kilometers east of Southeastern Mindanao, and still has the possibility of developing into a tropical depression.
Badrina also added that the shear line, or the convergence of cold and warm winds, may once again affect the country in the next few days as it is expected to develop due to different temperatures of the northeast monsoon and the easterlies.
