The low-pressure area (LPA) inside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) may persist to bring occasional rains over parts of Luzon, although it is forecast to dissipate within the next 24 hours, the state weather bureau said Thursday.
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Leanne Loreto said during a 5 a.m. weather advisory that the LPA has weakened and is likely to bring gloomy skies and light rains over Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon.
‘At present, the rainfall associated with this low-pressure area has weakened. As you can see, the cloud cover is no longer as dense as it was yesterday. Within the next 24 hours, it may dissipate as it moves across the West Philippine Sea,’ Loreto said.
Loreto added that once the LPA, located over the coastal waters of Nasugbu, Batangas, dissipates, easterlies, or the warm winds coming from the Pacific Ocean, will be the dominant weather system affecting major parts of the country.
‘If this low pressure area dissipates, easterlies will prevail. So we will have a break in the rain, usually today, it will be cloudy. It will not be the same as yesterday when we had heavy rain,’ she said.
Meanwhile, the LPA outside the PAR is expected to not further develop into a tropical cyclone and is likely to dissipate within the next few days. It will continue to not affect parts of the country, Loreto said.
‘We do not foresee it developing into a tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours; instead, it is more likely to dissipate in the coming days. It will not affect any part of the country,’ she reported.
As of 3 a.m., the weather disturbance was located 1,615 kilometers east of Eastern Visayas, and is forecast to remain off the coastal waters, Loreto said.
‘Right now, it is almost stationary – or barely moving – and based on what we observe for the next few days, it will remain in the waters near the Philippine Sea and the western North Pacific area,’ she added
The rest of the country is expected to experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with localized rain showers. Meanwhile, the easterlies is forecast to affect Northern Luzon, bringing cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over Cagayan Valley, according to Pagasa.
‘Other parts of our country are only experiencing short-term rains due to localized thunderstorms. Here in Northern Luzon, easterlies are affecting them,’ she stated