Pagasa monitoring low pressure area off Luzon

MANILA, Philippines—Don’t let the sunshine lower your guard.

A low pressure area off Central Luzon may intensify into a storm and enter the country’s area of responsibility by Monday, while the southwest monsoon continues to bring rains over several provinces, the state weather bureau said Saturday.

Not only that, two to three more storms are expected to arrive in the Philippines in August alone and possibly four more next month, said Jori Loiz, senior forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

“We should not let our defenses down in the next few days,” he said in a television interview.

As of 10 a.m., the low pressure area was observed some 1,280 kilometers east of Central Luzon although it was still too far to affect any part of the country within the next 24 hours, Pagasa said in an advisory.

Loiz, however, said there was now a strong likelihood that the weather disturbance would strengthen into a storm. “By Monday, northeastern Mindanao and eastern Visayas may experience the direct effect of the LPA (low pressure area),” he said.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said the southwest monsoon has weakened but will continue to bring mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Northern and Central Luzon, particularly in the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales, Pampanga, Bataan, Tarlac and Bulacan.

In an earlier interview, Pagasa Administrator Nathaniel Servando said 12 more storms or typhoons could strike the Philippines in 2012. He said the onset of El Niño toward the later months could mean stronger typhoons.

Annually, an average of about 20 storms hit the Philippines. The latest was Typhoon Gener, which departed earlier this month. Its exit was marked by incessant monsoon rains that submerged large parts of Metro Manila and neighboring provinces from Monday to Wednesday.

Servando said storms that enter the country in the months of August, September and October usually hit the eastern seaboards of the Visayas and Luzon, while in the last quarter, they are more likely to strike northern Mindanao.