METRO Cebu residents are encouraged to bring along their umbrellas and rain gears in the next three days as the weather bureau has forecast rains in this period.
Romeo Aguirre, weather specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration Mactan (Pagasa–Mactan), said that the low pressure area (LPA) which has brought rains in Metro Cebu in the past three to five days would exit the country on Monday, yet there would still be rains in Metro Cebu.
“The rains we have experienced in the past three to five days are brought by the LPA. But we’re still expecting for rains to come despite the LPA exiting PAR (Philippine area of responsibility) this Monday. Our data showed that the coming rains are brought by isolated thunderstorms and rain clouds,” said Aguirre told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.
Aguirre was referring to the LPA which was spotted 295 kilometers northeast of Virac, Catanduanes, as of the 4 p.m. weather bulletin issued by the central office of Pagasa on Saturday.
He added that only areas in and near Metro Cebu experienced the heavy downpour in the past days, which caused landslides in Barangay Busay in Cebu City, and flooding in the cities of Cebu, Talisay and Mandaue.
The latest landslide happened at late afternoon in Barangay Apas on Saturday, where a carpenter apparently lost his life. (See separate story)
“It will be rainy in the next three days because there are isolated thunderstorms and rainstorms in Metro Cebu. It’s isolated because only areas in and near Metro Cebu have experienced the recent downpours. Meanwhile, if you notice, rains rarely happen in far-flung areas in the province such as in Oslob and Bogo City,” Aguirre said.
He also said they are expecting the amount of rainfall this month to exceed its the average of 199.9 millimeters. Since yesterday, the Pagasa – Mactan recorded 27.6 millimeters of rainfall.
“October is also part of the rainy season, so more rains are expected to come. And maybe, it will exceed the average amount of rainfall. We recorded 27.6 mm of rainfall last Saturday. The average amount of rainfall for October is 199.9 millimeters,” said Aguirre.
He also said that the weather bureau is monitoring an “abnormal cluster of clouds” east of Mindanao, which may develop into a storm if it will not dissipate.
“It is still outside of PAR. More than 600 kilometers east of Mindanao. If it will not dissipate, our current data shows that it may develop into another LPA, and may enter PAR this coming Thursday. It may bring more rains to Cebu even if our tracker predicted it will make landfall somewhere in Luzon,” Aguirre said.