By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — A low-pressure area (LPA) inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) is expected to strengthen into a tropical cyclone by Wednesday, even as it brings widespread rains across parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration announced Monday.
The weather disturbance was last monitored about 495 kilometers east of Surigao City and currently carries a medium chance of intensifying into a tropical cyclone.
PAGASA weather specialist Aldczar Aurelio said the system is expected to cross the Southern Luzon–Visayas corridor on Tuesday before entering the West Philippine Sea the following day.
“It is once the LPA reaches the West Philippine Sea that the probability of it developing into a tropical cyclone becomes high,” Aurelio explained.
Should the disturbance intensify, it will be assigned the local name Henry, making it the eighth tropical cyclone to affect the country this year.
Even before reaching tropical cyclone strength, the LPA is expected to trigger moderate to heavy rainfall—estimated at 50 to 100 millimeters—over several provinces on Monday.
The affected areas include:
Sorsogon
Masbate
Northern Samar
Eastern Samar
Samar
Biliran
Leyte
Southern Leyte
Dinagat Islands
Surigao del Norte
PAGASA cautioned residents in these provinces to prepare for possible flooding, flash floods, and landslides, particularly in flood-prone and mountainous communities.
Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon, or Habagat, continues to weaken over much of Luzon. However, forecasters said the weather system will once again influence parts of Mindanao beginning Tuesday as the LPA draws moisture into the region.
Despite the unsettled weather, PAGASA said no gale warning has been raised over any of the country’s seaboards, allowing fishing vessels and other small watercraft to operate with normal caution.
State weather forecasters urged the public to stay updated through official advisories, as the developing weather system could rapidly intensify once it reaches the warmer waters of the West Philippine Sea.
ia/xf
