PAGASA: Potential cyclone nears Surigao, to head north

A low-pressure area approached the Surigao area in Mindanao early Thursday, and state weather forecasters said it had a good chance of eventually intensifying into a cyclone. But PAGASA forecaster Gener Quitlong said their models show that even if the LPA does become a cyclone, it was likely to veer north and head for Taiwan. "Nasa dagat yan kaya malaking chance maging bagyo iyan," Quitlong said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said that if the LPA - now inside the Philippine area of responsibility - becomes a cyclone, it will be locally codenamed Gorio. But for now, he said the LPA was still too far to affect any part of the country, although it was being bolstered by the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). He also said that they were not discounting the possibility of the potential cyclone eventually affecting southern or Central Luzon. "Ang pinapakita ng model, dadaan ito sa silangang bahagi ng bansa," he said. PAGASA's 5 a.m. bulletin said that as of 4 a.m., the LPA was estimated at 500 km east of Surigao city, embedded along the ITCZ affecting eastern Visayas and Mindanao. "Eastern and central Visayas and Mindanao will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms," it said. It added Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be "partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening." PAGASA said light to moderate winds from the northeast to northwest will prevail over the Visayas and Mindanao and coming from the southeast to southwest over Luzon. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate. — DVM, GMA News