Tropical depression may enter PAR Tuesday; shear line to bring scattered rains

A tropical depression located outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility may enter PAR on Tuesday, PAGASA said in its early morning advisory on Monday.

As of 3 a.m., it was located at 1,900 km east of Mindanao.

The tropical depression has maximum sustained winds of 55 km/h with gustiness of up to 70 km/h. 

It is moving west northwestward at 20 km/h.

GMA resident meteorologist Nathaniel "Mang Tani" Cruz said the tropical depression is expected to intensify and may develop into a typhoon category.

"Inaasahang lalakas pa ang tropical depression bago pumasok sa Philippine Area of Responsibility bukas," Cruz said in a report on Unang Balita.

"Posibleng umabot sa typhoon category. Mahigit 100 km/h na hangin ang dala niyan," he said.

However as it moves closer to the Philippine landmass, the weather disturbance may even bring 200 km/h winds.

PAGASA said it may raise Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 4.

Cruz said this is because TCWS No. 4 is raised whenever a tropical cyclone brings 180 km/h winds or more.

He also said the weather disturbance, which will be called Odette when it is inside PAR, may make landfall.

"Mas mataas ang posibilidad na tatama sa lupa. Hangin at ulan ang dala niya. Posibleng manalasa sa Visayas at Mindanao. Ngayon pa lang ay maghanda na," Cruz said.

Meanwhile, the shear line or tail-end of a frontal system will bring scattered rain showers over the eastern section of the country on Monday.

The Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Aklan, Capiz, Dinagat, and Surigao Provinces will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the shear line. Flooding or landslides may occur during times of moderate and heavy rains.

The Northeast Monsoon (Amihan) meanwhile continues to affect Northern and Central Luzon.

Cagayan Valley, Apayao, Kalinga, Ifugao, Mt. Province, and Aurora will have cloudy skies with light rains, while Metro Manila, the Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, and the rest of the Cordillera Administrative Region and Calabarzon will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains.

The rest of the country on the other hand will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms. Flash floods or landslides may occur during severe thunderstorms.

Coastal waters will be moderate to rough in the seaboards of Luzon, Visayas and the eastern section of Mindanao, with waves possibly reaching up to 4 meters tall.

The rest of Mindanao will have slight to moderate seas.

Sunrise was at 6:12 a.m. Sunset will be at 5:29 p.m. —KG, GMA News