Low pressure area spotted east of Mindanao

If you don’t want to be late reporting back to school or work after a long Christmas holiday, an official of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) yesterday advised vacationers to start their trek back home early or they could be caught in bad weather.

Pagasa Weather Branch chief Nathaniel Cruz said a low pressure area (LPA) spotted 220 kilometers east of Northern Mindanao could develop into a tropical depression within the next six to 12 hours.

As of 5 p.m. yesterday, the LPA is gaining strength and could foster unfavorable weather for travel, Cruz said.

As the weather center only issues bulletins when there is a tropical depression, Cruz has advised the public to monitor the weather developments.

“This would affect Eastern Visayas and Eastern Mindanao. We are advising the public to start their travel early so they would not be caught up in the tropical depression. They would be travelling in the rain.”

Many Metro Manila residents took advantage of the long vacation that started last Dec. 24. They either returned to their home province or went to vacation with their families.

Pagasa’s 24-hour public weather forecast said that the LPA was affecting the northeast monsoon. Luzon will experience cloudy skies with scattered light rains while Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms becoming widespread over Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao that may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

Moderate to strong winds blow from the northeast and will prevail over Luzon and Visayas. Coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough.

For those traveling by sea, Pagasa said the weather disturbance could affect boat trips from Sorsogon to Eastern Visayas and Leyte to Surigao. But he said they would leave it up to the Philippine Coast Guard to decide if they would allow ships to sail. – Evelyn Macairan