PAGASA monitors potential cyclone; floods threaten Mindanao

State weather forecasters have started tracking a potential cyclone that entered Philippine territory Sunday morning. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the low-pressure area was about 600 km east of Visayas as of 2 a.m. "Base sa ating models, malaki ang chance nito na maging isang bagyo sa August 23 o 24," PAGASA forecaster Gener Quitlong said in an interview on dzBB radio. Should the LPA become a cyclone while inside Philippine territory, it will be codenamed "Mina." Quitlong said the LPA is heading northward towards Southern Japan. For now, he said it is not likely to have any direct effect on the Philippines. PAGASA's 5 a.m. bulletin indicated the LPA was embedded along the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) affecting Central and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. "Central and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over Eastern Mindanao which may trigger flashfloods and landslides," it said. It added the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate, PAGASA said. — LBG, GMA News