‘Brewing cyclone off Pacific Ocean may bring rains’

MANILA, Philippines - The state weather bureau yesterday continued to monitor a brewing cyclone off the Pacific Ocean that may bring rains and gusty winds over parts of eastern Luzon during the weekend.

Aldczar Aurelio, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the low-pressure area was spotted at 2,900 kilometers east of Luzon as of 5 a.m. yesterday.

Aurelio said the low-pressure area has a high probability of intensifying into a cyclone within the next few days.

It was forecast to move westward and enter the Philippine area of responsibility tomorrow or Thursday, he said.

The next tropical cyclone that would enter the country this year would be locally named Lando.

Based on PAGASA’s weekly weather outlook, the weather disturbance was expected to move closer to the eastern section of Luzon on Thursday or Friday, bringing rains and occasional gusty winds.

Meanwhile, PAGASA said the tail-end of a cold front would continue to bring rains and rough seas in extreme Northern Luzon in the next days.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms will be experienced over the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Batanes, Calayan and Babuyan Group of Islands.

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated thunderstorms, on the other hand, will prevail over Metro Manila and the rest of the country.