A Low Pressure Area (LPA) formed east of northern Luzon or over the northern Philippine Sea on Friday, Sept. 20, said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
PAGASA Weather Specialist Benison Estareja said the LPA was located 745 kilometers east-southeast of Itbayat, Batanes around 3 a.m.
He added that PAGASA has not ruled out the probability that the weather disturbance could become a tropical depression.
“Mababa ang tyansa na maging tropical depression for today subalit inaasahan pa rin natin ‘yung probability na tumaas ang tyansa na ito ay maging tropical depression over the weekend (The chance of it becoming a tropical depression is low for today, but we still expect the probability that this may become a tropical depression to increase over the weekend),” Estareja said.
The next tropical cyclone name on PAGASA’s list is “Igme.”
Based on the latest analysis, Estareja said the LPA will move northwest toward Taiwan and has a low chance of making landfall or affecting any part of the country.
Over the next 24 hours, he said the southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” will continue to prevail over a huge portion of Luzon and Visayas, which may bring rain showers, particularly across the western and northern parts of the country.
Moderate to intense monsoon rains may persist in Zambales and Bataan, while occasional light to heavy rains may occur in Ilocos Region.
Meanwhile, cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms may affect Metro Manila, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Samar, and the rest of Luzon.
The rest of Visayas and Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers due to the habagat or localized thunderstorms.