‘Liwayway’ to bring rains in Central Visayas until Monday

The Pagasa forecast track of TD Liwayway. (Screengrab from bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The trough of Tropical Depression Liwayway is expected to bring rains over Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas until tomorrow evening,  Monday, September 2.

As of 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 1, the center of TD Liwayway is estimated at 460 kilometers east northeast of Maasin City, Southern Leyte.

Joey Figuracion, a weather specialist at the Mactan station of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said TD Liwayway will bring occasional light to moderate rains and moderate to rough sea conditions in Central Visayas.

Figuracion said TD Liwayway is now moving northwest at 20 kilometers per hour and is expected to be out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Thursday, September 4.

“The weather is expected to improve tomorrow evening (September 2),” Figuracion said in a phone interview.

Based on Pagasa’s forecast track, TD Liwayway is not expected to make landfall in its five-day stay inside PAR.

TD Liwayway was the second Low Pressure Area (LPA) that Pagasa was monitoring east of Mindanao. It developed into a tropical depression at 8 a.m. today.

The first LPA, which was spotted  west of Cagayan province, was first to develop into a tropical depression at dawn today, Sunday, and was named “Kabayan.” But as of 6 a.m., TD Kabayan has exited the PAR  and is expected to intensify into a tropical storm while moving westward towards southern China.

Despite TD Kabayan being out of PAR, Pagasa still cautioned the public against sea travel of small seacrafts over the northern and western seaboards of Northern Luzon and the western seaboard of Central Luzon due to rough seas brought by the effect of Kabayan and the southwest monsoon or Habagat.

The wave height in these areas may reach up to 4.5 meters while the wind force ranges from 45 to 63 kilometers per hour. /elb