Pagasa sees rainy Christmas

MANILA, Philippines - It might be a rainy Christmas.

The state weather bureau spotted yesterday a low-pressure area off the Pacific Ocean that may bring rains in some parts of the Philippines on Christmas Day.

Jori Loiz, senior weather forecaster at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the low-pressure area is still very far from the country.

As of yesterday noon, it was located some 2,500 kilometers east of Mindanao.

“As of now, we could not say yet whether it will intensify further or it will hit Philippine landmass,” Loiz said in a phone interview. 

But he said some forecast models showed that it could cross and bring rains in some parts of the country by Friday or on Christmas Eve.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies will continue to prevail in most parts of the country, including Metro Manila, in the next three to five days.

Light rains are also expected in some parts of Luzon, especially Tuguegarao and Baguio, due to the northeast monsoon.

Although temperatures have already dropped especially in the mornings, Loiz said the coldest weather will be experienced next month and in February during the peak of the northeast monsoon season.

Cloudy skies will prevail over Tacloban and Davao on Thursday and Friday due to the easterlies.

Napocor to release water from Angat Dam

Meanwhile, state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) will release water from Angat Dam today to maintain the stability of the dam and draw down the reservoir elevation to safe levels.

Napocor said it would open the spillway gate with initial gate opening of 0.5 meter at 8 a.m. and will discharge water estimated at 68 cubic meter per seconds. - With Danessa Rivera, Ramon Efren Lazaro