Tropical Storm Bavi is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) Tuesday morning and will then be named Betty, State Meteorologist Manny Mendoza said.
Estimated at 2,100 kms east of the Bicol Region this morning, Bavi packs maximum sustained winds of 75 kph and gustiness of up to 90 kph. The cyclone moves in a west southwest direction at 35 kph.
Mendoza states that the storm has a higher chance of weakening into tropical depression category before dissipating in the following days.
Meanwhile, the ridge of high pressure area affects Northern Luzon, bringing a warm weather condition today.
Based on PAGASA’s latest weather forecast, the whole archipelago will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with possible isolated cases of rain showers or thunderstorms.
Moving in a west northwest direction at 25 kilometers per hour, a tropical storm with international name “Bavi” is now being monitored by PAGASA. According to Weather Forecaster Gener Quitlong, as of 8:00AM today, it was located at approximately 3,870 kilometers east of Mindanao.
“Bavi” is still too far to affect the country but if it maintains its speed and direction, it is expected to enter our boundary by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning next week. All are advised to monitor updates and further development.
Meanwhile, compared to yesterday, the northeast monsoon or amihan has slightly weakened. It will affect Northern and Central Luzon, bringing cloudy skies with light rains over Cagayan Valley, the Cordillera Administrative Region and the province of Aurora. Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have generally fair weather aside from possible isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.
As amihan weakens, coastal waters throughout the archipelago will have slight to moderate conditions. Though gale warning was already lifted, all fishing boats and other small sea craft are still advised to be cautious in venturing out into the sea.
The presence of the prevailing amihan also affected the temperatures in Luzon but these were not as low as the previous records. Here are the lowest temperatures recorded in the Philippines yesterday, March 12, 2015:
