Weather satellite image from Pagasa’s website
MANILA, Philippines — Cloudy skies with possible rain will still prevail over most parts of the country on Sunday due to the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and localized thunderstorms, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
According to state weather specialist Patrick del Mundo, the ITCZ will primarily affect Palawan and Mindanao while the localized thunderstorms will bring rain to many areas across the country.
“Sa kasulukuyan patuloy na umiiral itong ITCZ sa may bahagi ng Palawan at Mindanao. Hindi naman ito magdadala ng mga pag-ulan. May mga tsansa lang ng pulo-pulong pagulan dulot ng localized thunderstorms,” he said in a morning public report.
(Currently, this ITCZ continues to dominate parts of Palawan and Mindanao. It will not bring rain. There are only chances of scattered rain due to localized thunderstorms.)
READ: Tropical Storm Mawar nears PH
As for the low pressure area that developed into a tropical storm now called Mawar, Pagasa said it remains outside of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) as it was last located 2,520 kilometers east of northeastern Mindanao.
Del Mundo said Mawar has maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour (kph) with gustiness of up to 105 kph. The storm is expected to enter the PAR by next weekend.
“Within the next 24 hours ay malakas ang tsansa nitong mas lumakas pa into a severe tropical storm category and further intenstification ay ‘di inaalis dahil sa ngayon ay ito ay nasa karagatang pasipiko pa rin at inaasahan natin ito pumasok ng PAR by Friday or Saturday,” del Mundo explained.
(Within the next 24 hours there is a strong chance that it will become stronger into a severe tropical storm category and further intensification is not ruled out because for now it is still in the Pacific Ocean and we expect it to enter the PAR by Friday or Saturday.)
However, he added, “Bagamat papasok ito ng PAR mababa pa rin ang tsansa nitong mag-landfall sa anumang bahagi ng ating bansa.”
(Although it will enter the PAR, there is still a low chance of it making landfall in any part of our country.)
Once the tropical storm enters the PAR, del Mundo said it would be given the name Betty. It is expected to pull southwesterly surface wind flow and affect the southern portion of the country, especially Palawan, Western Visayas, and Zamboanga later this coming week.
Pagasa likewise said it is not raising any gale warning over any of the country’s coastal waters for now.
The state weather service further disclosed that temperatures across the country may hit as low as 17 degrees Celsius and as high as 37 degrees Celsius this Sunday.
Below is Pagasa’s forecast temperature ranges in key cities and areas around the country for March 21:
- Metro Manila: 26 to 33 degrees Celsius
- Baguio City: 17 to 24 degrees Celsius
- Laoag City: 26 to 34 degrees Celsius
- Tuguegarao: 26 to 37 degrees Celsius
- Legazpi City: 25 to 33 degrees Celsius
- Puerto Princesa City: 24 to 32 degrees Celsius
- Tagaytay: 22 to 31 degrees Celsius
- Kalayaan Islands: 25 to 32 degrees Celsius
- Iloilo City: 25 to 33 degrees Celsius
- Cebu: 26 to 32 degrees Celsius
- Tacloban City: 25 to 31 degrees Celsius
- Cagayan De Oro City: 24 to 31 degrees Celsius
- Zamboanga City: 24 to 33 degrees Celsius
- Davao City: 25 to 33 degrees Celsius
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