LPA to bring rain in Visayas, Mindanao

A low-pressure area monitored by the state weather bureau is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility today, bringing scattered rains across the Visayas and Mindanao later this week.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) last spotted the weather disturbance, designated as LPA 05a, about 1,085 kilometers east of northeastern Mindanao.

While it is poised to cross the country's monitoring boundary on Tuesday, weather specialist Veronica Torres noted in a morning briefing that “This low pressure area remains unlikely to develop into a tropical cyclone.”

Although it is unlikely to worsen into a tropical depression, the advancing weather system will still significantly disrupt regional weather patterns.

“It may start bringing rain to parts of the Visayas and Mindanao as early as Thursday,” Torres said in Filipino.

Ahead of the incoming LPA's rain bands, the prevailing easterlies continue to dictate the country's immediate weather. PAGASA warned that these warm winds from the Pacific are already bringing cloudy skies, scattered rains, and potential flash floods over the Zamboanga Peninsula and Palawan today.

Meanwhile, forecasters are tracking a second, more robust system, LPA 05b, located 2,585 kilometers east of northeastern Mindanao. Unlike the nearer disturbance, this distant system currently has a high probability of escalating into a tropical depression within the next 24 hours.