Rainy weekend for Luzon due to LPA, tail-end of frontal system


The low pressure area (LPA) near the southern part of Luzon and the tail-end of a frontal system will continue to bring rains across the country this weekend, the state weather bureau said.

(PAGASA / MANILA BULLETIN)

In its latest weather bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the LPA was spotted 220 kilometers east of Kalayaan Islands as of 3 a.m. Friday.

PAGASA weather specialist Shelly Ignacio said the LPA still has a slim chance to develop into a tropical cyclone and is expected to interact with the tail-end of a frontal system in the coming days.

However, Ignacio said the LPA will still bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Palawan where flash floods or landslides are possible due to moderate, with at times heavy rains.

Meanwhile, the tail-end of a frontal system will continue to affect parts of Luzon particularly Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Aurora, and Quezon Province which could experience cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms.

According to PAGASA, the tail-end of a frontal system is the boundary of two air masses with high temperature differences where thick clouds form causing rains with thunderstorms on its path.

In Metro Manila and the rest of the country, partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms will prevail due to localized thunderstorms.

PAGASA warned that flash floods or landslides are also likely in these areas due to severe thunderstorms.

The state weather bureau also noted that strong to gale force winds, associated with the surge of the northeast monsoon, will be experienced over the seaboards of Northern Luzon.

With this, a gale warning was raised over the coasts of Batanes, Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, and the western coast of Ilocos Norte.

Sea travel remains risky, especially for small sea crafts, over seaboards where a gale warning was raised due to moderate to rough sea conditions and wave height of up to 3.4 meters, PAGASA warned.