LPA monitored outside Philippine Area of Responsibility

A low pressure area (LPA) is being monitored outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), the state-run weather bureau said on Saturday.

THE Philippine Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the LPA was seen some 1, 505 kilometers east of Mindanao, as of 3:00 a.m. on Saturday and was inside the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).

“Though it is still not affecting the country, we are not ruling out its chance of turning into a tropical cyclone in the next few days,” Pagasa weather forecaster James Villamil said.

The state weather bureau said the ITCZ, or the imaginary line where the southern and northern hemisphere meets, is affecting the eastern section of Southern Luzon and Visayas and northeastern portion of Mindanao.

These areas are expected to have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over the next 24 hours, especially the areas of Quezon Province and Bicol Region.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country are forecast to have generally fair weather today, although there will also be a chance of sudden rain showers due to localized thunderstorms in the afternoon and at night.