More rains despite exit of 'Linfa'

MANILA, Philippines - The tropical storm over the South China Sea with international name “Linfa” moved farther away from the country yesterday but will continue to bring rains over the Ilocos Region until today, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

Pagasa administrator Prisco Nilo said Linfa continued to move toward Taiwan yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Nilo said a low pressure area might form east of Mindanao on Wednesday and bring scattered rains over the Bicol Region, Visayas and Mindanao.

However, Nilo said the LPA is not expected to develop into a tropical cyclone.

An LPA is commonly associated with bad weather.

A tropical cyclone, if on sea, can be formed in such condition.

As of 2 a.m. yesterday, Linfa was spotted at 200 kilometers west of Southern Taiwan or at 400 kms northwest of Basco, Batanes with maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 120 kph.

It is forecast to move north-northeast at 13 kph.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said the surge of the southwest monsoon enhanced by Linfa is expected to affect the northern and western seaboards of Northern Luzon and the western seaboard of Central Luzon.

The northern and the western seaboards of northern Luzon would have cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms and the sea condition would be rough to high, Pagasa said.

On the other hand, the western seaboard of Central Luzon would have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms and the sea condition would be rough to very rough, it said.

Pagasa advised fishing boats and other small sea vessels not to venture out into the sea while larger seacraft are alerted against big waves. – Helen Flores