Weather: Rain, thunderstorms over parts of Luzon in next 24 hours

Scattered rain showers and thunderstorms loom over northern and Central Luzon in the next 24 hours due to a wind convergence affecting the two areas, state weather forecasters said Wednesday afternoon. But the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration also reiterated its warning to fishermen and operators of small seacraft against big waves in northern Luzon. "Northern and Central Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms," PAGASA said in its 5 p.m. bulletin. It added that moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast and east will prevail over northern Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough. Meanwhile, light to moderate winds coming from the east to northeast will prevail over the Visayas and the rest of Luzon and coming from the east over Mindanao. The coastal waters along these areas will be slight to moderate, PAGASA said. Localized thunderstorms On its Twitter account, PAGASA said the thunderstorms are localized and due to afternoon heating. On the other hand, PAGASA warned of strong to gale force winds associated with the surge of the northeasterly surface windflow. It said these winds are expected to affect the seaboards of northern Luzon. "Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves," it said. — RSJ, GMA News