Expect rains in Luzon even after ‘Santi’ due to LPA

Although tropical cyclone Santi is expected to leave the country soon, northern and central Luzon will continue having rains in the coming week, the state weather bureau said Saturday. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said a new low pressure area (LPA) in the Pacific Ocean would bring occasional rains to northern and southern Luzon starting Monday. Pagasa said it was closely monitoring the air mass heading toward southern Luzon and the Visayas, which could develop into a new cyclone. The northeast monsoon, which will start affecting the country’s weather in November, will also bring scattered rain showers over Luzon. “Isang LPA na papalapit ay posibleng magdulot (ng ulan) at itong malakas na haging amihan ay maaari pong magbigay ng panaka-nakang ulan lalong-lalo na sa northern and southern Luzon," Pagasa spokesperson Nathaniel Cruz said in a press briefing. (An approaching LPA may bring rains, and the strong northeast monsoon can also bring scattered rain showers especially in northern and southern Luzon.) Santi is forecast to leave the Philippine area of responsibility by Sunday afternoon, and is very unlikely to return to the country. Pagasa expects one to two more tropical cyclones to enter the Philippines before the year ends. The country is within the northwestern Pacific area, which has around 27 tropical cyclones a year. “Ito po ay papasok sa Philippine area of responsibility ngunit hindi naman nangangahulugan na lahat ito ay tatawid sa ating bansa," Cruz said. (These would enter the Philippine area of responsibility but this does not mean that all these cyclones would pass through the country.) - ANDREO C. CALONZO, GMANews.TV