LPA off Eastern Samar may develop into tropical cyclone

Pagasa Satellite image of low pressure area

MANILA, Philippines – The active low pressure area in the country may develop into a tropical cyclone within 24 to 48 hours, state weather forecasters said Thursday.

In its 5 p.m. bulletin, the active low pressure area was plotted 310 kilometers east of Borongan, Eastern Samar embedded along the intertropical convergence zone affecting Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

These weather systems will bring cloudy skies with scattered to widespread rain in the Visayas and northeastern Mindanao, it added.

Should the active low pressure area become a cyclone, it will be called “Ambo,” the first cyclone in the country for 2012.

Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over the eastern section of Visayas and of Mindanao which may trigger flashfloods and landslides. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms, Pagasa said.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast to northwest will prevail over Eastern Luzon and coming from the southwest over Visayas and Mindanao. The coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate blowing from the northwest to west with slight to moderate seas, it added.