By Alexandria Dennise San Juan
The low pressure area (LPA) monitored inside the country is now near landmass, bringing rain showers and thunderstorms in Visayas and Mindanao, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Friday.
(PAGASA / MANILA BULLETIN)
As of Friday morning, PAGASA said the LPA was spotted off 150 kilometers east-northeast of General Santos City in South Cotabato and moving near Mindanao's landmass.
PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas said the LPA is still unlikely to develop into a tropical depression but will bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms in Visayas and Mindanao.
The state weather bureau warned residents affected by the weather disturbance on possible flash floods or landslides due to scattered moderate to at times heavy rains.
Apart from the LPA, Rojas said that two weather systems -- the northeast monsoon, and the tail-end of a cold front -- will bring rains across the country today.
In Bicol Region, Quezon, Marinduque, Romblon, and Oriental Mindoro, cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms will prevail due to the tail-end of a cold front -- an extension of a weather system that forms when the cold air mass dominates the warm air mass, causing interaction and rains.
Flash floods or landslides are also possible in these areas due to scattered moderate to at times heavy rains, PAGASA added.
While the northeast monsoon or "amihan" continues to bring cloudy skies with light rains in the northern part of Luzon particularly in Cagayan Valley and Aurora.
In Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains is expected also because of the northeast monsoon.
Due to to the surge of amihan, PAGASA also raised a gale warning on the northern, eastern, and western seaboards of Northern Luzon.
With this, strong to gale force winds are expected on the coasts of Batanes, Babuyan, Calayan, Cagayan, the northern and western coasts of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan.
PAGASA warned that sea travel remains risky, especially for small sea craft, over seaboards where a gale warning was raised due to strong to gale force winds and wave height of up to 4.5 meters.