Monsoon rains for Metro Manila, parts of Luzon; PAGASA monitors 2 LPAs inside PAR

PAGASA is monitoring two low-pressure areas inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility and forecasts rainshowers throughout the country due to the Southwest Monsoon and localized thunderstorms.

In its 4 p.m. update, the state weather bureau said that as of 3 p.m., one of the LPAs was 895 kilometers (km) east-northeast of Basco, Batanes, while the other was 280 km west of Iba, Zambales.

According to PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas, the LPA near Zambales has only a small chance of developing into a storm, but is seen to reach the mainland before becoming part of the other LPA's trough. This is then expected to develop into a storm in the next few days, and will be given the name Nimfa.

Meanwhile, over the next 24 hours monsoon rains brought by the Habagat or Southwest Monsoon will affect Metro Manila, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas and Occidental Mindoro.

In the same period, the Bicol Region, Western Visayas, and the rest of Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and MIMAROPA should expect cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Due to the trough of the LPA east of Batanes, the Cagayan Valley region may also experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

For all of these areas, the public is warned to be on alert for possible flash floods and landslides due to occasional heavy rain.

The rest of the country will see partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers due to localized thunderstorms.

Peipah

Tropical Storm Peipah, meanwhile, was spotted 2,295 km east of extreme northern Luzon, traveling northwest at 45 kph with maximum sustained winds of 65 kph and gustiness of 90 kph. There is only a small chance it will enter PAR, said PAGASA. — BM, GMA News