LPA spotted outside PAR but 'no direct effect' on PH — Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines — A low pressure area (LPA) was spotted outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) off Eastern Visayas, the state-run weather agency said on Friday.

Weather specialist Benison Estareja of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the LPA, however, has a slim chance of entering PAR.

«It would also have no direct effect in the country as the weather disturbance was unlikely to develop into a tropical depression within the next 24 hours,» the Pagasa forecaster said.

But the state weather bureau has been closely monitoring cloud formations along the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) which was affecting Mindanao.

The ITCZ — an imaginary line where the winds coming from the northern and southern hemispheres meet — is also bringing partly cloudy to overcast skies over Visayas and Palawan.

Another weather system, the easterlies — winds coming from the east and passing through the Pacific Ocean that carry humid and warm weather — are affecting Cagayan Valley, Aurora, Quezon and Bicol Region where similar weather conditions would be experienced, Pagasa said.

Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, meanwhile, will be experiencing isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms, it added.