MANILA, Philippines – Several parts of the country will experience rains and thunderstorms on Monday due to the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), easterlies and northeasterly windflow, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
In its 4 a.m. bulletin, the state weather bureau forecast cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over Mimaropa, Western Visayas, the Negros Island Region, Central Visayas, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, the Zamboanga Peninsula, Leyte, and Southern Leyte due to the ITCZ.
Batanes and the Babuyan Islands will have cloudy skies with rains due to the northeasterly windflow, while Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet and Pangasinan will experience cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms due to the easterlies.
The northeasterly windflow is a seasonal air current that blows from the northeast and typically signals the transition from the rainy southwest monsoon to the cooler, drier northeast monsoon.
The rest of the Visayas and Mindanao will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to the ITCZ.
Pagasa warned that flash floods or landslides may occur during severe thunderstorms in affected areas.
The weather bureau also said a tropical cyclone it is monitoring remains outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility and is not expected to affect the country.
The weather disturbance was last spotted 3,030 kilometers east of Central Luzon, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour.