The low pressure area (LPA) will continue to affect the western portion of the country in the next two days, but the weather disturbance is less likely to develop into a tropical cyclone, the state weather bureau said Saturday, March 13.
In its morning weather update, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the LPA was spotted at 210 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan at 3 a.m. Saturday.
“Itong LPA na ito ay mababa naman ang tsansang maging ganap na bagyo (This LPA has a low chance of developing into a tropical cyclone),” said weather specialist Shelly Ignacio.
“Inaasahan natin na in the next two days, maaari pa rin po ‘yang makaapekto dito sa may western side ng ating bansa (We expect that in the next two days, it may still affect the western side of our country),” she added.
Ignacio said the LPA is estimated to move over the West Philippine Sea by Sunday, but she noted that the weather disturbance may still bring rains over the western portion of the country.
PAGASA said cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms due to the LPA will affect Visayas, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, Bicol Region, Mimaropa region (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), and Calabarzon region (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon).
Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon or “amihan” will persist over extreme northern Luzon in the next few days, particularly in Batanes and Babuyan Islands which may experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains.
On the other hand, Metro Manila and the rest of the country would have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to localized thunderstorms.