‘Expect good weather this Christmas’

MANILA, Philippines - Apart from cloudy skies and light rains, no tropical cyclone is expected to affect the Philippines during the Christmas season, the state weather bureau said yesterday.

“We don’t expect any weather disturbance until Christmas,” Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services  Administration (PAGASA) senior weather forecaster Jori Loiz said.

Loiz said the diffused tail-end of a cold front will bring cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms over Eastern Visayas and the Bicol region.

Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Aurora and Quezon provinces will have cloudy skies with light rains. The rest of Northern and Central Luzon will be partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated light rains due to the northeast monsoon.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms.

The weather bureau said a gale warning is still up over Southern Luzon and the eastern seaboards of Central Luzon due to the surge of the northeast monsoon.

PAGASA said huge waves of up to 4.5 meters high are expected over Batanes, Calayan, Babuyan, Cagayan, Isabela, Ilocos provinces, La Union, Pangasinan and Aurora in the next 24 hours.

Rough to very rough sea conditions are also expected over Camarines provinces, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, Quezon including Polillo Island, Metro Manila, Cavite, Mindoro provinces, Batangas, Palawan, Marinduque, Romblon, Masbate and Burias island.