MANILA, (PNA) — The tropical storm with international name Francisco, hovering off the Pacific Ocean, continues to move towards the country, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Friday.
In an interview, weather forecaster Alvin Pura said the cyclone continues to move towards the country and will likely enter the Philippine territory early Sunday or Monday morning
Once it enters Philippine territory, Pura said it will be locally named “Urduja.”
“Urduja” would be the fourth cyclone to enter the country this month and the 21st for the year.
However, Pura said that just like typhoon “Tino,” the cyclone is forecast to stay inside the Philippine territory in less than 48 hours.
He said it is not expected to make landfall since it will just pass along the “corner” of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) off east of Northern Luzon.
Once it exits the country, Pura said it is expected to move towards southern Japan.
Meanwhile, Pura said the northeast monsoon (hanging amihan) has set in, initially affecting Northern Luzon before reaching other parts of the country.
The northeast monsoon is usually associated with the Christmas season.
It is the cold winds from Siberia that blows into the country, usually from mid-October until mid-February.
He said the southwest monsoon (hanging habagat) has already ceased.
The southwest monsoon is the prevailing weather system in the country from June to early October or during rainy season.
Until Sunday, Pura said the northeast monsoon is expected to bring passing light rains in parts of Northern Luzon while the rest of the country including Metro Manila will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy with possible afternoon or evening rains due to localized thunderstorms.
In its advisory, PAGASA said Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Cagayan Valley will experience scattered light rains.
It added Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.
The weather agency said that moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough.
Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the northeast to north with slight to moderate seas.
PAGASA added strong to gale-force winds associated with the surge of the northeast monsoon is expected to affect the northern seaboard of Northern Luzon.
“Fishing boats and other small sea crafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves,” it said.