Storm expected on Wednesday to bring rains in western part of PH

MANILA, Philippines—The weather bureau said that a tropical cyclone (international name: Soulik) that is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) by Wednesday may not directly affect the country but is anticipated to enhance the habagat (southwest monsoon) by Thursday and bring rains to the western part of the country.

As of 4 p.m. on Monday, weather forecaster Ricky Fabregas of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Soulik was 2,010 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes, with its center located north of the Marianas Islands. Soulik’s winds were at 85 kilometers per hour with gustiness of 100 kph.

Fabregas said that should the storm continue moving westward at 20 kph, it would enter the PAR on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said in its 5 p.m. forecast that it expected the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) over Palawan and Mindanao to bring light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms to Palawan, Western Visayas, the Zamboanga peninsula and northern Mindanao.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.—Jeannette I. Andrade