New LPA, amihan to bring rainy blues on a Monday

TODAY, January 23, is one of those rainy days and Mondays that may get you down.

But don’t let the rain dampen your post-Chinese New Year spirits. 

Visayas, Mindanao and large parts of Luzon will have a rainy Monday today, state weather forecasting agency Pagasa said.

What’s driving the rains

There is a Low Pressure Area within the Philippine Area of Responsibility, located 535 kilometers east southeast of Davao City. 

The trough or the extension of the LPA will bring moderate to at times heavy rains over Visayas, Caraga, Northern Mindanao and Davao region.

Meanwhile, the Northeast Monsoon is again dumping torrential rains over Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Bicol Region, Quezon, Marinduque, Romblon and Aurora.

Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon can just chill. The Northeast Monsoon will have no impact. It’s gonna be partly cloudy, sometimes with light showers, kinda generally fair weather today.

As for the rest of the country, localized thunderstorms are bringing the clouds, as well as rain showers and thunderstorms here and there. 

Temperature check

Yesterday, on Chinese New Year, Baguio City registered the lowest temperature in the country at 15.4°C. 

Basco, Batanes, Malaybalay in Bukidnon and Tanay, Rizon also dipped to below 20°C.

Tayabas, Quezon and Aparri, Cagayan have dropped to 20°C, while Baler, Aurora, Laoag City, Catarman in Northern Samar and Abucay, Bataan plunged to 21°C.

Meanwhile, mercury rose highest in Zamboanga and Catbalogan cities at 32.9°C and 32.8°C respectively.

San Jose in Occidental Mindoro, Port Area in Manila, Dagupan City, Ambulong, Batangas, Subic, General Santos, Puerto Princesa City and Coron in Palawan basked in the afternoon sun at 31.2°C.

Here’s the temperature forecast for today in key cities:

Luzon

• Baguio City: 14-31°C
• Tagaytay: 19-29°C
• Laoag City: 21-31°C
• Tuguegarao: 21-29°C
• Metro Manila: 23-30°C
• Legazpi: 24-30°C
• Puerto Princesa: 25-30°C
• Kalayaan Group of Islands: 25-31°C

Visayas and Mindanao

• Tacloban: 25-30°C
• Cebu: 25-28°C
• Iloilo: 25-31°C
• Cagayan de Oro: 24-29°C
• Davao: 24-28°C
• Zamboanga: 24-32°C

Gale warning

For almost the entire eastern corridor of the country and the northern seaboard of Luzon, sea conditions would be rough to very rough. 

Pagasa said the Northeast Monsoon continues to bring strong gale force winds into the country. Waves could reach as high as 4.5 meters or 14.76 feet — equivalent to 1 and a half storey-building.

Pagasa issued a gale warning for fishing boats and smaller seacrafts. It is not safe to venture out to sea in the following areas:

• North and eastern coast of Cagayan
• Northern coast of Ilocos Norte
• Aurora
• Northern coast of Quezon
• Northern coast of Camarines Sur
• Northern and eastern coast of Catanduanes
• Eastern coast of Albay
• Eastern coast of Sorsogon
• Northern and eastern coast of Samar
• Eastern Samar
• East of Southern Leyte
• East of Surigao del Norte including Siargao, Bucas Grande Islands
• Dinagat Islands
• Surigao del Sur