Heavy rain hits Metro Manila

THE state-run weather agency said on Friday that the low pressure area (LPA) off Quezon is now affecting Metro Manila, adjoining provinces and parts of the Visayas as it enhances the southwest monsoon (habagat), bringing scattered rain showers and thunderstorms.

Forecaster Ezra Bulquerin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) told The Manila Times that the LPA has a slim chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours.

It was last seen over the coastal waters of Calauag, Quezon, Pagasa said.

The weather disturbance is enhancing the southwest monsoon in bringing scattered rain showers in Metro Manila, as well as in Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan).

Both the LPA and habagat are also affecting the Bicol Region, Zamboanga Peninsula, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Isabela and mainland Cagayan, the Pagasa weather specialist said.

He said partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms may prevail over the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, the tropical depression outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility has further weakened as it turned into an LPA and may eventually move away in the direction of China.