PAGASA: Cyclone brews off Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines — A potential cyclone is expected to enter the Philippines this weekend and bring rains over the Visayas and Mindanao, the state weather bureau warned yesterday.

As of 2 p.m., a low-pressure area was spotted 2,550 kilometers east of Mindanao, embedded in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).

Gener Quitlong, senior weather forecaster at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the low-pressure area was forecast to enter the country tomorrow or Saturday.

It is expected to intensify into a tropical depression once it enters the Philippine area of responsibility and will be locally named Paeng.

Quitlong said the approaching weather disturbance was unlikely to make landfall. However, its trough or extension could bring light to moderate rains over the Visayas and Mindanao as well as over Southern Luzon.

The brewing cyclone is also expected to enhance the southwest monsoon, which will bring rains over the western section of the country, he said.

Quitlong added the ITCZ would continue to bring cloudy skies with scattered rains over Metro Manila, Bicol region, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, the Visayas and Aurora province in the next 24 hours.

The rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers due to thunderstorms.

Quitlong warned thunderstorms could bring heavy rains for hours that could cause flooding in low-lying areas.

Last weekend, Typhoon Ompong left a trail of destruction in Northern Luzon.

Scores of people were killed in landslides in Benguet as Ompong – the strongest cyclone to hit the country so far this year – dumped almost a month’s worth of rain over the province.

The typhoon also left P16.76 billion worth of damage to the agriculture sector.