A new low-pressure area east of Mindanao may enter the country within 24 hours, which will likely bring rains while approaching Eastern Visayas and Southern Luzon in the next few days, a weather forecaster said Sunday.
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration weather specialist Benison Estareja said the LPA was estimated at 1,500 kilometers east of Mindanao Sunday morning.
It may enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility in 24 hours or within Sunday, he said.
Estareja pointed out that the LPA has a slim chance of developing into a tropical depression as of Sunday but is highly likely to bring rains in the next two to three days over Eastern Visayas as well as Southern Luzon.
In the next 24 hours, the tail-end of frontal system or shear line between the cold northeast monsoon and warm and humid easterly winds will bring moderate with at times heavy rains over Aurora, Quezon, Camarines Norte, and the eastern portions of Laguna and Rizal, and light to moderate rains with chances of scattered thunderstorms over Metro Manila, Bulacan, Bataan, the rest of Laguna, and Rizal, Cavite, and Batangas.
Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon or "amihan" will bring occasional to frequent light to moderate rains over mainland Cagayan Valley, Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, and Ifugao.
PAGASA warned of possible flooding, including flash floods, and rain-induced landslides during heavy or prolonged periods of rainfall, especially in areas that are identified to be highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards and in localities that received significant rainfall over the past couple of days or weeks.
It also warned that adjacent or nearby areas may experience flooding in the absence of such rainfall occurrence due to surface runoff or swelling of river channels.
"The public and disaster risk reduction and management offices concerned are advised to take appropriate measures," PAGASA said in a weather advisory.
"PAGASA regional services divisions may issue local thunderstorm/rainfall advisories and heavy rainfall warnings, while the Hydrometeorology Division and River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning Centers may issue general flood advisories and river basin flood advisories/bulletins as appropriate," it added.
A gale warning also remains in effect Sunday morning due to the surge of northeast monsoon.
PAGASA said strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon, western seaboard of Northern Luzon, and eastern seaboard of Visayas.
As rough to very rough seas may prevail over these coasts, PAGASA advised fishing boats and other small boats not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels were asked to remain alert against big waves.