Low pressure area to bring rains to parts of Visayas, Mindanao—Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines—Mindanao and Visayas would be under clouds and heavy rains until Tuesday as a  low pressure area that formed in the waters of eastern Mindanao moved nearer to land, the weather bureau said on Sunday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the weather disturbance could intensify the downpours from the wind convergence zone over Visayas and Mindanao, which was still reeling from the disaster brought by tropical storm Sendong.

Glaiza Escullar, a Pagasa forecaster, said there was little chance that the LPA, sighted at 130 kilometers east of General Santos City as of 8 a.m. on Sunday, would develop into a tropical cyclone.

Although the weather disturbance would not become a cyclone, Pagasa warned that it would still bring heavy rains over Eastern Visayas, and Eastern and Northern Mindanao regions starting Sunday night.

The LPA would bring 10-15 mm of rains per hour, a volume already considered “heavy,” Escullar said.  Pagasa  warned local authorities, on Sunday that the LPA could trigger floods and landslides.

Mindanao and parts of Visayas will be rainy until Tuesday, according to Pagasa.

Aside from the LPA, Visayas and Mindanao have been affected by wind convergence, the weather bureau said. Pagasa warned communities in these areas, which have seen heavy rains in the past few days, to beware of hazards such as floods and landslides.

Pagasa also warned that the northeast monsoon would be generating big and rough waves in the seaboards of Luzon and the eastern seaboard of Visayas. Fishing boats and small vessels have been advised not to head out to the sea while bigger ships were alerted to rough, up to very rough sea conditions.