Inday maintains strength, moves westward as ITCZ brings rains over Palawan, Mindanao

Tropical Storm Inday maintained its strength while moving westward over the Philippine Sea, while an Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is seen to affect Palawan and Mindanao, according to PAGASA early Thursday morning.

The center of Inday was estimated at 1,215 kilometers east of Central Luzon packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour near the center, gustiness of up to 90 km/h, and central pressure of 1000 hPa. It was moving westward at the speed of 15 km/h.

The are no Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal currently in effect, PAGASA said.

Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, northern Mindanao, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the ITCZ with possible flash floods or landslides due to moderate to at times heavy rains.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to the ITCZ and localized thunderstorms, with possible flash floods or landslides during severe thunderstorms, PAGASA said.

Wind speed forecast for Luzon and Visayas is light to moderate moving in the northeast to northwest direction while coastal waters will be slight to moderate.

Mindanao will experience light to moderate wind speed moving in the southwest to west direction while coastal waters will be slight to moderate

PAGASA said Inday is unlikely to directly affect the weather condition in the country within the forecast period but may bring moderate to rough seas over the seaboards of extreme northern Luzon on Saturday.

These conditions may be risky for those using small seacraft. PAGASA advised mariners to take precautionary measures.

Inday is forecast to move northwestward over the Philippine Sea before turning more northward on Monday towards the vicinity of the Ryukyu Islands and the East China Sea. It may exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Sunday or Monday. —BAP/ GMA News