Rains will still persist over most parts of the country this weekend as typhoon “Hanna” (international name “Lekima”) continues to enhance the southwest monsoon or “habagat” even after exiting the Philippine Area of Responsibility yesterday.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration spotted Hanna 645 kilometers north-northeast of Basco, Batanes or outside the PAR before dawn yesterday.
Hanna exited the PAR around 12:30 a.m. yesterday. It slightly weakened with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 215 kph.
The typhoon is moving north-northwest at 20 kph and could possibly make a landfall on the eastern part of mainland China, PAGASA said.
PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas noted that though Hanna is now outside PAR, it still enhances the southwest monsoon that continues to dump rains across the country, especially in most parts of Luzon and Visayas.
PAGASA said monsoon rains will prevail over Metro Manila, Ilocos region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Batanes, Babuyan Group of Islands, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, and the provinces of Mindoro.
The State weather bureau warned residents in these areas of possible flash floods or landslides due to light to moderate with at times heavy monsoon rains.
The habagat will also bring cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms over Western Visayas and the rest of Luzon where flash floods and landslides are also possible due to scattered light to moderate rains.
The rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms because of the habagat.
Meanwhile, PAGASA continues to monitor another typhoon with the international name “Krosa” 500 kilometers away from the eastern boundary of PAR.
As of 4 a.m. yesterday, Krosa was 1,990 kilometers east of extreme Northern Luzon with maximum sustained winds of 155 kph and gustiness of up to 190 kph.
Rojas said Krosa has a slim chance of entering PAR as it is slowly moving east and will not have an effect on any part of the country. (Alexandria San Juan)
