Fishermen warned of rough seas churned up by monsoon

Source: Project Noah, Dec 18, 2013, 01:30 pm

MANILA, Philippines — Fishermen in Luzon were advised Wednesday against venturing out to sea due to strong winds spawned by a surge of the northeast monsoon.

The state weather bureau forecast gale-force winds off the coasts of northern and Central Luzon, stretching from  provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Ilocos Sur, La Union to Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Aurora, Zambales and Bataan.

Coastal waters in those areas will be rough to very rough, generating 3.4- to 5-meter waves, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

The western seaboard of Southern Luzon—Metro Manila, Cavite, Mindoro Occidental, western coast of Batangas and Palawan—will also experience similarly rough seas, with 3.4- to 4.5-meter waves, Pagasa said.

“Fishing boats and other small seacraft are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted [to] big waves,” Pagasa said in an advisory.

The tail-end of a cold front continues to affect extreme northern Luzon, while the trough, or extension, of a low-pressure area  is affecting eastern Mindanao, the weather bureau said.

According to Pagasa’s 24-hour weather outlook, the regions of Ilocos, Cordillera and Cagayan, Central Luzon, Metro Manila and Caraga and the province of Quezon will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.

The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, it added.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southeast to northeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough, Pagasa said.

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the east to northeast with slight to moderate seas, it said.