Weather: Potential cyclone may trigger floods, landslides in WLuzon

A low-pressure area northeast of Batanes in Extreme Northern Luzon continues to threaten to trigger flash floods and landslides over western Luzon, state weather forecasters said Saturday. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the LPA was estimated at 470 km northeast of Basco, Batanes as of 2 a.m. "Luzon will experience cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms becoming widespread rains over the Western section which may trigger flashfloods and landslides. Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms," it said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. It added a monsoon trough across Luzon threatens to bring more rains. PAGASA said the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms. PAGASA did not say if the LPA will intensify into a cyclone, but weather station Typhoon2000 indicated a tropical cyclone formation is possible along the sea south of Japan between July 12 and 16. Should there be such a cyclone, it will be codenamed "Goring." — LBG, GMA News