Sunny weather is expected in Cebu during daylight today with scattered rains expected by nightfall due to the entry of a potential tropical storm within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) in the afternoon or this evening.
Romeo Aguirre, weather specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Mactan, said the prevailing Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) that continues to affect Visayas, Mindanao and Southern Luzon is seen to weaken today.
The tropical storm, which will be named “Paeng” once it enters PAR, will however intensity the southwest monsoon or habagat, which will bring rains and thunderstorm in Cebu in the evening, he said.
On Saturday, widespread rains and thunderstorm were experienced over Metro Cebu, which halted for nearly two hours the search and retrieval operation for the victims of the massive landslide in Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tinaan, Naga City.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) Head Baltazar Tribunalo Jr. said they had to stop the search and retrieval operation at 1 p.m. because it was unsafe for emergency responders to walk through water-logged and unstable soil. The operation resumed at around 3 p.m.
As of 5 p.m. Saturday, Paeng was seen brewing outside PAR or about 1,845 kilometers east of Central Luzon.
Paeng, the 16th tropical disturbance to hit the country, has a maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of 105 kph moving northwest direction at 20 kph.
Aguirre said the tropical storm has a less chance of making a landfall as it is expected to cross towards extreme Northern Luzon.