Storm to enter Philippine area of responsibility tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines – A tropical depression off the Pacific Ocean has intensified into a storm and is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) tomorrow, the weather bureau said.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the disturbance, with international name Nepartak, was spotted at 2,060 kilometers east of Mindanao.

It packed winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph and was forecast to move northwest at seven kph.

Once it enters the PAR tomorrow, the disturbance will be locally named “Butchoy.”

At the rate it is moving, the tropical depression has little chance of making landfall, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

PAGASA said Nepartak might not affect any part of the country in the next five days.

The storm is projected to be at 2,030 km east of Visayas today and 2,000 km east of Luzon tomorrow morning.

By Wednesday, it will be at 1,070 km east of Itbayat, Batanes and at 1,030 km northeast of the province by Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, PAGASA also spotted yesterday a low-pressure area some 85 km east of Catarman, Northern Samar.

It was embedded along the inter-tropical convergence zone, it said.

The LPA is expected to bring cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains over Bicol and Samar until today.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms will be experienced over Metro Manila, Cagayan, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Mindoro, Batangas, Pangasinan, Tarlac as well as Central Luzon, Northern Mindanao, and some Visayan provinces.