Weather: Potential cyclone approaches north Luzon

A low-pressure area moved closer to extreme northern Luzon early Monday morning, but state weather forecasters said it has little chance of becoming a cyclone. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the LPA was likely to dissolve within Monday morning. "Sa ngayon ay maliit ang tsansa nito maging bagyo. Sa loob ng dalawa o tatlong oras, baka ito maglaho (We see little chance of the LPA becoming a cyclone. We even expect it to dissolve in a few hours)," PAGASA forecaster Ben Oris said in a 5 a.m. interview on dzBB radio. He said there is no other weather disturbance detected near Philippine territory so far. If the LPA had become a cyclone, it would have been codenamed "Sendong." PAGASA's 5 a.m. bulletin said the LPA was estimated at 1,170 km east of extreme northern Luzon as of 2 a.m. "The whole country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening," it said. PAGASA added that light to moderate winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and the Visayas and coming from the east over Mindanao. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be slight to moderate, it said. — RSJ, GMA News