Pagasa: Expect thunderstorms and rainfall in Cebu due to LPA

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu and its nearby provinces can expect thunderstorms especially at night in the next few days as a low pressure area (LPA) looms at 295 kilometers east of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (Pagasa) Mactan Station said.

Van Singson, weather specialist of Pagasa Mactan Station, told CDN Digital by phone on Sunday, October 27, that the weather in Central Visayas will remain cloudy with scattered rain showers and medium to high possibility of thunderstorms starting tomorrow, Monday until Wednesday, or from October 28 to 30, 2019.

But even as of this Sunday, however, a gloomy weather and scattered rain showers have been prevailing over Cebu City.

Rain clouds hover over Cebu City’s Barangay Busay amid a moderate rain shower experienced in the city since the early afternoon on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019 brought on by a low pressure area spotted in Surigao del Sur. |CDND Photo / Edra Benedicto

Singson said that although the LPA is less likely to become a tropical storm, it will still bring moderate to heavy rains that may cause flooding or landslide in Cebu and nearby areas.

She urged the public to monitor the updates for thunderstorm at the Pagasa facebook page to prepare for heavy rains.

Singson said the rainy weather will most likely persist until Wednesday, when the LPA is expected to either dissipate once it crosses the Philippine land mass, or move out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

She said that by October 31, 2019, clear skies with occasional cloudiness are expected in Central Visayas, although this forecast may still change in the next few days.

Even so, the weather will no longer be scorching hot as the average temperature has dropped slowly with the onset of the northeast monsoon or the Amihan on October 24, 2019.

The peak temperature in the later part of this month has dropped by three degree Celsius from 35 to 32 degrees Celsius, while the heat index now peaks at 39 degrees Celsius.

Singson said the weather is expected to even grow cooler until the end of the year as the Amihan becomes stronger.

“We can now expect cooler days ahead,” she said.

The average rainfall has also normalized since the El Niño phenomenon ended in August 2019, reaching to 188 millimeters total rainfall for the month of October. This is 93 percent of the average rainfall for October in the past 30 years, she said.

Singson said Pagasa expects normal average rainfall for the rest of the year as well. /elb