‘Lando’ weakens but rains to continue to parts of Philippines–Pagasa

FUN IN FLOODWATERS. Children frolic in the flood right beside the Media Resource Plaza (MRP) building on Pasong Tirad St. in Makati city as heavy rain spawned by Tropical depression “Lando” hit the country Tuesday. Video taken by INQUIRER.net’s Cathy Miranda

MANILA, Philippines — Tropical depression “Lando” weakened into a low pressure area although it, combined with monsoon rains, has continued to bring bad weather to parts of the country, including Metro Manila, the state-run weather bureau said Tuesday.

In its latest weather forecast, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that as of 4 a.m., “Lando” was seen 170 kilometers west of Ilocos Sur.

Meanwhile, Typhoon “Kabayan” also weakened slightly as it hovered over Philippine seas although it was still too far away to affect any part of the country.

Central and Northern Luzon and the western section of Southern Luzon are experiencing monsoon rains which may trigger flashfloods and landslides while Visayas and the rest of Luzon are expected to experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms, Pagasa said.

Meanwhile, Mindanao will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms, Pagasa added.

“Moderate to strong winds blowing from the Southwest will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and coming from the South to Southwest over the rest of the country. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be moderate to rough,” Pagasa added.

Kabayan was seen 1,130 km east-northeast of Basco, Batanes and was packing maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 200 kph, Pagasa said.

“Estimated rainfall amount is from 10-25 mm per hour within the 800 km diameter of the typhoon,” the state-run weather bureau added.

The typhoon is forecast to move northwest at 13 kph.

By Tuesday evening, Kabayan is expected to be 980 km east- northeast of Basco, Batanes and by Wednesday evening it will be 790 km east-northeast of Basco, Batanes.

By Thursday evening, the typhoon is expected to be 165 km Southeast of Okinawa, Japan, Pagasa said

Originally posted at 08:28 am | Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011