Weather satellite from Pagasa
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� A low-pressure area (LPA) formed off Batanes, inside the Philippine area of responsibility early morning on Friday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
Weather specialist聽Benison Estareja reported that the LPA鈥檚 location as of the last monitoring of Pagasa was at 745 kilometers east-southeast of Itbayat, Batanes.
鈥淏ased on our track, the said weather disturbance will move northwest over Taiwan and we are not ruling out that it will become a tropical depression,鈥� Estareja noted, speaking partly in Filipino.
鈥淲e are expecting this to intensify into a tropical depression over this weekend,鈥� he added.
READ: La Ni帽a to whip up more cyclones by end of 2024 鈥� Pagasa expert
This LPA will be named Igme once it develops into the ninth tropical cyclone to disturb the country this year.
For now, however, the southwest monsoon, locally termed habagat, will continue to bring cloudy skies with rain in many parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, Zambales, Bataan, Ilocos Region, and Samar Island, and Visayas.
Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms are also anticipated to occur in the rest of Visayas and Mindanao on Friday due to the southwest monsoon.
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Pagasa also said it sees moderate to rough seas with 2.5 to 3.4 meters of waves in several seaboards.
It raised聽gale warnings in the western seaboard of Luzon (Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro) and Palawan, including Kalayaan Islands, for Friday.
鈥淢ariners of small seacrafts (including all motor bancas of any type or tonnage) are advised to take precautionary measures when venturing out to sea and, if possible, avoid navigating in these conditions,鈥� Pagasa鈥檚 5 a.m. weather update states.
鈥淰essel masters, boat captains, ship owners/operators, and coast guard units concerned are advised to take appropriate measures to ensure safety of life at sea.鈥�