PAGASA: LPA unlikely to intensify into cyclone

A low-pressure area (LPA) closing in on southern Mindanao is not likely to intensify into a cyclone, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Monday. PAGASA forecaster Ben Oris said there is no indication it may become the second cyclone to enter the Philippine area of responsibility this year. "Maliit ang tsansa maging bagyo ito. Ito [ay] nasa loob ng Philippine area of responsibility pero di pa bagyo (There is little chance it will become a cyclone. It is in the Philippine area of responsibility but it is not intensifying into a cyclone)," Oris said in an interview on dzBB radio. In its 5 a.m. bulletin, PAGASA said the LPA was 400 km east of southern Mindanao as of 2 a.m. If the LPA intensifies into a cyclone, it will be code-named "Basyang." The first cyclone to enter the country was "Agaton," but did not directly affect any part of the country last March. PAGASA also said the tail-end of a cold front is affecting northern and Central Luzon. "Northern and Central Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered light rains. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms," it said. Meanwhile, "cooler" weather looms over Metro Manila and Tuguegarao City, even as 37-degree weather looms over Laoag City in Ilocos Norte. PAGASA's extended weather forecast indicated that Metro Manila temperatures will range from 25 to 34 degrees Monday, and up to 35 degrees for the rest of the week. Maximum temperatures in Tuguegarao, which went up to 39 degrees last week, are expected to range between 33 to 35 degrees this week. But temperatures in Laoag for Monday were forecast at 26 to 37 degrees. — RSJ, GMANews.TV