PAGASA monitoring tropical storm outside PAR; Southwest Monsoon rains to persist

PAGASA said it continues to monitor Tropical Storm (TS) Mun, which is still outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

Rains, however, will persist in many parts of the country, due to the Southwest Monsoon.

TS Mun was last spotted 2,500 kilometers east northeast of extreme Northern Luzon bearing a maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 80 km/h.  It is moving northwestward at 15 km/h.

Meanwhile, as of 2 a.m. Thursday, the weather bureau also said that the Low Pressure Area (LPA) inside PAR has a "medium" potential to develop into a tropical depression within the next 24 hours.

Several areas in the country have suspended classes as the LPA will bring cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms in Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, and Aurora.

Metro Manila, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, and Occidental Mindoro will have occasional rains due to the Southwest Monsoon.

Western Visayas and the rest of Luzon will experience cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms as a result of the Southwest Monsoon.

The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Sunrise is at 5:31 a.m. and sunset is at 6:29 p.m. —LDF/ VAL GMA Integrated News