MANILA, (PNA) — The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration(PAGASA) on Thursday is keeping watch of two low pressure areas (LPAs) off Pacific Ocean.
Weather forecaster Alvin Pura said that as of 4 a.m., one of the LPAs was estimated to be at 750 km east of Luzon (14.0°N, 132.0°E) embedded along the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) across Luzon and Visayas.
Pura said that this LPA re-entered the country after re-organized but is still too far to affect the country.
He said the agency’s numerical models continued to show that the weather disturbance has a slim chance to become a tropical depression but the agency continues to monitor its movement.
Pura said the other LPA was near Guam and is still outside the country.
However, Pura said the other LPA which is expected to enter the country before Saturday has a higher chance of becoming a tropical depression since “it is still in the sea, where it could pick up more moisture.”
He said it will be named “Odette” once it intensifies into a cyclone.
“Mas malaki ang chance nito na maging isang bagyo base sa ipinapakita ng mga models and yung LPA sa east of Luzon maaring mag merge ito sa LPA na malapit sa Guam,” he noted.
However, he said that if the potential cyclone maintains its present track, it is not likely to make landfall in any part of the country.
He added that it will just pass over the eastern side of Luzon by the sea.
Meanwhile, Pura said that Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms which may trigger possible flashfloods and landslides due to the effects of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
He said the rest of the country including Metro Manila will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms.
In its advisory, PAGASA said that light to moderate winds blowing from the southwest to west over Palawan, Visayas and Mindanao and coming from the northeast to northwest will prevail over the rest of Luzon.
The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate.