Monsoon to blame for crazy weather

MANILA, Philippines—One minute, rain comes in fits and spurts; the next minute, it’s raining cats and dogs. If you’re baffled by the unpredictable nature of downpours after Typhoon Gener’s exit, blame the southwest monsoon.

Locally known as “hanging habagat,” the monsoon continues to bring rains and winds to Luzon and Western Visayas, while a new low pressure area east of Northern Luzon is still too far away to be felt, the state weather bureau said Friday.

“The nature of the southwest monsoon is it brings intermittent rains. It can last five minutes, or it will be continuous rain for 30 minutes, and there are breaks in between,” forecaster Chris Perez said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said there was no tropical cyclone within the country’s territory although the monsoon would still bring scattered rain showers and thunderstorms.

Gener left the Philippine area of responsibility early Friday after leaving at least 26 people dead and forcing almost 200,000 out of their homes in Metro Manila and outlying provinces.

At 8 a.m. Friday, the low pressure area estimated, based on satellite and surface data, at 1,710 kilometers east of Northern Luzon.

“It is still too far to affect any part of the country,” Pagasa said in a bulletin.

In a radio interview, however, Perez said the low pressure area might enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Saturday evening. The bureau earlier predicted that the LPA would affect only the fringes of the Philippine area of responsibility. If it intensifies into a storm, it will be named “Helen.”

“Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon will continue to bring scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Luzon and Western Visayas, becoming widespread over Western Luzon, which may continue to trigger flash floods and landslides,” Pagasa said.

The weather bureau added that moderate to strong winds blowing from the Southwest will prevail throughout the archipelago and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough.

In its extended weather outlook, Pagasa forecast Metro Manila will continue to be cloudy or mostly cloudy over the weekend with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. The same is true for the  cities of Laoag, Baguio and Tagaytay.

In Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Zamboanga City and Cagayan De Oro City, the weekend will see partly cloudy skies with isolated rains, the weather bureau said.