LPA Brings Heavy Rains in Eastern Visayas in the Next 24 Hours- PAGASA

MANILA- Flashfloods and landslides threaten Eastern Visayas in the next 24 hours due to heavy rains brought by low pressure area affecting the area, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Sunday.

In an interview, PAGASA weather forecaster Meno Mendoza said that as of 4 pm the LPA was spotted some 310 kms east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar (11.0ºN, 129.0ºE).

Mendoza said the LPA has small chance to re-intensify into tropical depression and unless it re-intensifies it will be named again Domeng because it’s still inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

“Domeng” is the fourth tropical cyclone to enter the PAR this year and the first this month.

He also said the LPA has been lingering in the country due to its slow movement.

Due to frontal system and the high pressure area (HPA) that keeps LPA in stationary and also the strong vertical wind shear or winds from different directions that blow into the country has been interacting with the circulation of the LPA, reducing its intensity, he explained.

He added that LPA expects to hit land in Eastern Visayas by early Tuesday morning.

He also said by Wednesday or Thursday, light rains over some areas in Luzon including Metro Manila are expected as the LPA will move towards Palawan and Mindoro.

In the next 24 hours, Mendoza said the LPA will bring cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms over Eastern Visayas which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

The Eastern Visayas area was devastated by super typhoon “Yolanda” last November.

He advised residents of these areas to be prepared and closely monitor the weather situation.

He added that Bicol Region and Northern Mindanao and the rest of Visayas will experience cloudy skies with scattered light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms.

In the next two days, Mendoza said that the rest of the country including Metro Manila will be spared of the weather disturbance and will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.

In its advisory, PAGASA said that moderate to occasionally strong winds blowing from the Northeast to Northwest will prevail over the Eastern section of Visayas and Mindanao and coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to occasionally rough.

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the northeast with slight to moderate seas. Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan (PNA) CTB/CLTC