Pagasa: Some flood-hit areas may see pause from rains Thursday

Weather satellite image from Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines – Some areas swamped by flooding in the past few days may expect respite from continuous rains on Thursday, the state weather bureau said.

In a report, state weather specialist Patrick Del Mundo said that persistent rainfall is unlikely in Northern Samar, a region inundated by flooding in the past few days due to rains caused by the shear line, which is the convergence of warm and cold winds.

READ: Heavy rains, floods hit 5 regions; 1 dead

Del Mundo, however, advised the public to be still wary of possible flooding and landslides in the area.

“Pinag-iingat parin ang ating mga kababayan diyan dahil bagamat hindi natin inaasahan ang tuloy-tuloy na pag-ulan sa may Northern Samar, dahil na rin inulan ang area na ito sa mga nakaraang araw, ay posible pa rin ang pagbaha at pagguho ng lupa,” he explained.

(Our compatriots are still urged to be careful because although we do not expect continuous rain in Northern Samar, flooding and landslides are still possible since it has rained in this area in the past few days.)

Del Mundo likewise noted that the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has been monitoring cloud clusters in the eastern part of Southern Luzon, Northern Samar area, and western part of Palawan – outside of the Philippine area of responsibility.

READ: Severe flooding hits Samar, Panay Islands

But “[t]his is not yet an LPA (low-pressure area),”  he said. Still, Pagasa “will continue to monitor in the coming hours and issue rainfall advisories and thunderstorm advisories whenever it affects any part of the land,” he also said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, the shear line and northeast monsoon (locally called amihan) were forecast to affect Luzon.

Palawan, Quezon, and the Bicol Region were expected to have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms because of the shear line on Thursday, according to Pagasa.

“Possible flash floods or landslides due to moderate to, at times, heavy rains” may occur in these areas, it said.

READ: Rains to persist in some flood-hit areas due to shear line – Pagasa

Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, and Apayao may experience overcast skies with light rains due to the northeast monsoon, while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains are expected in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, Pagasa added.

All other areas are anticipated to have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms because of localized thunderstorms, the state weather agency further said.

On Thursday, Pagasa did not give any gale warning over the country’s seaboards.