PHL Storm-Free Until Weekend

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Friday the country will remain storm-free in the next three days.

In an interview, PAGASA weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar said the agency has not seen any weather disturbance near the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) that may develop into tropical cyclone within the next three days or until weekend.

She said the agency expect zero to one tropical cyclone to affect the country this month.

She added except in extreme Northern Luzon many parts of the country will continue to experience fair weather with cold mornings until weekend.

She noted the dominant weather system affecting the country is the cold winds due to northeast monsoon or “hanging amihan”.

The northeast monsoon is the cold wind from China and Siberia that blows into the country from late October until mid-February.

She said with the presence of northeast monsoon this will bring cloudy skies in Cagayan Valley Region and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains will prevail over the regions of Cordillera, Ilocos and the rest of Central Luzon.

She added fair weather or partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated thunderstorms will be experienced over Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

The temperature in Metro Manila will be in the 22-31 degrees Celsius range on Friday.

Escullar said that with the surge of northeast monsoon, the state-run weather bureau also issued gale warning as the sea condition will be rough to very rough in the northern seaboard of Northern Luzon.

“Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves,” it warned.

In its advisory, PAGASA said moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Northern Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the east to northeast with slight to moderate seas. (PNA) JBP/CLTC