LPA brings rains over Eastern Visayas

MANILA, Philippines - A low-pressure area (LPA) entered the Philippine area of responsibility yesterday and is expected to bring rains in many parts of the country throughout the weekend.

Jun Galang, senior weather forecaster at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the LPA could intensify into a tropical cyclone within the next two to three days.

He said the LPA has started dumping moderate to occasionally heavy rains over Eastern Visayas and Caraga region yesterday.

It will be locally named Carina once it develops into a cyclone.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the low-pressure area was located at 555 kilometers east of Borongan, eastern Samar, and embedded along the intertropical convergence zone.

Galang said the disturbance was moving towards northern Luzon.

“As of the moment, if it will not change its track, we don’t expect it to make landfall. It will just skirt the eastern coast of Northern Luzon,” he said in a phone interview.

But even if it remains as an low-pressure area, Galang said it was still expected to bring rains over Caraga region and Eastern Visayas, including the Bicol region, Quezon, Cagayan and Isabela this weekend.

He said the disturbance could also enhance the southwest monsoon, which will bring light to moderate to sometimes heavy rains over the Mimaropa region and Metro Manila until Sunday.

Only two cyclones have entered the country so far this year. An average of 19 to 20 cyclones usually visit the country annually.