LPA to enter Phl during pope’s visit

MANILA, Philippines -  The low-pressure area off the Pacific Ocean is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Thursday and bring rains over Eastern Visayas and Northern Mindanao during Pope Francis’ visit to the country, the state weather bureau said yesterday.

Alvin Pura, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the possibility of the low-pressure area intensifying into a tropical cyclone has increased.

He said the low-pressure area was located around 2,600 kilometers east of the Philippines as of 2 p.m. yesterday.

“There is a big possibility that it will pass near Eastern Visayas this weekend,” Pura said.

Pura said the weather disturbance may also weaken while inside the Philippine area of responsibility when it interacts with the cold northeast monsoon.

He said Metro Manila would continue to experience fair weather in the next few days. However, Metro Manila is also likely to experience rains from the weather disturbance by Sunday as the low-pressure area moves closer to the Bicol region, he said. PAGASA said the trough of the low- pressure area will bring rains over the Visayas and Mindanao in the next 24 hours. Cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains will prevail over Caraga and Davao regions as well as Northern Mindanao, which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

The Visayas and the rest of Mindanao will be cloudy with light to moderate rains.

Cagayan Valley and Cordillera will have cloudy skies with light rains due to the northeast monsoon, while Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will be partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated light rains.

Pope Francis is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Thursday for a five-day visit to the Philippines.

The pontiff will also visit Tacloban in Leyte, the hardest-hit province by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), on Saturday.