Southwest monsoon to bring rains to some provinces in western Luzon as Helen moves outside PAR

The southwest monsoon will be affecting the western section of the country on Tuesday while the effects of the trough of Low Pressure Area (LPA) be felt for the rest of Visayas and Mindanao, PAGASA reported.

The active tropical cyclone, formerly Tropical Depression Helen, was spotted as of 3 a.m. outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) 365 kilometers west of extreme northern Luzon packing maximum sustained winds at 55 kilometers per hour near the center with gustiness up to 70 kph.

Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, and BARMM will have cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms brought about by the southwest monsoon. Flash floods or landslides may occur in these areas due to moderate with at times heavy rains.

Caraga, Northern Mindanao, and the rest of Visayas will have cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms  due to the trough of the LPA with the possibility that flash floods or landslides may occur due to moderate with at times heavy rains.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers due to the southwest monsoon/localized thunderstorms as the occurrence of flash floods or landslides during severe thunderstorms.

The wind speed forecast for Luzon is light to moderate moving in the southwest to southeast direction while coastal waters will be slight to moderate.

In the Visayas and Mindanao, wind speed will be light to moderate moving in the southwest to west direction while coastal waters will remain slight to moderate.

The sun will rise by 5:43 a.m. and set about 6:17 p.m. -- BAP, GMA News