Rain in Mindanao may cause floods

MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image 6 a.m., 17 December 2013

MANILA, Philippines—The weather bureau on Monday warned of possible flashfloods and landslides in Mindanao with a prevailing low pressure area (LPA) trough expected to bring rains Tuesday over the region.

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) forecasters said, however, that the LPA will neither enter the Philippine area of responsibility nor develop into a tropical cyclone.

Forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said the extension of the LPA in effect over Mindanao will cause the region to experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Aurelio said strong to gale force winds brought by the surge of the northeast monsoon, locally known as “amihan,” are expected to affect the eastern seaboards of Luzon and the Visayas, where fishing boats and other small vessels are advised against venturing out to sea and larger ships are alerted to big waves.

Sea conditions in the areas are anticipated to be rough to very rough while wave heights, the weather bureau said, may reach up to 4.5 meters.

In its forecast for Tuesday, Pagasa said the Visayas and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers, while the Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Ilocos regions will be cloudy with light rains.

Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms. Moderate to strong winds will prevail over Luzon where coastal waters will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate with slight to moderate seas.