RAMMB/US NOAA/Himawari 8
MANILA — A potential tropical cyclone may enter the Philippine area of responsibility this weekend, the state weather bureau said.
The low pressure area was last spotted 2,110 km east of Infanta, Quezon, PAGASA weather forecaster Chenel Dominguez said.
"Hindi natin inaalis ang posibilidad na ito'y maging isang ganap na bagyo," she said in a 4 p.m. livestream.
(We are not discounting the possibility that it may become a tropical depression.)
While the LPA is unlikely to slam into land, it will enhance the southwest monsoon or habagat, which will dump rains over the central and western sections of the country this weekend.
The trough or extension of the LPA will bring cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms in Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, and Caraga, PAGASA said.
It said the same weather conditions would prevail in Palawan and the rest of Visayas due to the habagat.
Metro Manila and the rest of the country will experience generally fair weather with localized thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening, PAGASA said.
Rains spawned floods and heavy traffic in parts of the capital region on Thursday afternoon.