LPA enhancing monsoon rains

MANILA, Philippines – Moderate to heavy rains will prevail until tomorrow over Southern Luzon and the Visayas due to the enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said yesterday a low-pressure area (LPA) east of Luzon is enhancing the habagat.

At 4 p.m. yesterday, the LPA was spotted 485 kilometers east of Baler, Aurora.

PAGASA said the weather system is not expected to intensify into a tropical cyclone within the next few days.

In its advisory, the weather bureau said moderate to heavy rains will persist over the regions of Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol, Western Visayas and Negros Island until tomorrow.

PAGASA warned residents in the provinces of Antique, Capiz, Aklan, Masbate, Albay and Sorsogon against possible flashfloods and landslides.

The enhanced habagat will also cause moderate to rough seas over Southern Luzon and the Visayas, it said.

Meanwhile, cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms will prevail over the rest of the country, including Metro Manila.

Heavy rains dumped by habagat the past weeks have triggered floods and landslides, killing at least seven people and affecting some 32,220 families in the National Capital Region, Regions 3 and 4, and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.