The Low Pressure Area (LPA) east of Mindanao has intensified into a Tropical Depression and was given the local name Urduja, the country’s 21st tropical cyclone this year.

At 10:00 AM today, Tropical Depression Urduja was at 405 kilometers east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar. It has maximum winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 65 kph, moving north-northwest at 7 kph. According to PAGASA Weather Forecaster Chris Perez, it may intensify into a Tropical Storm within the next 36 hours and hit the Southern Bicol Region or the northern part of Samar Provinces on Saturday.

As Urduja heads towards the landmass, Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas will experience cloudy skies with scattered to widespread rain showers and thunderstorms, which may trigger flash floods and landslides. In Mindanao, the rest of Visayas, MIMAROPA and CALABARZON, cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may cause flash floods and landslides. Cloudy skies with scattered rains will prevail in Metro Manila, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and the rest of Central Luzon. Meanwhile, Ilocos Region will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains.

Because of the surge of Amihan, gale warning is still in effect in seaboards of Northern Luzon and eastern seaboards of Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Visayas where wave height may reach up to 3.4 to 4.5 meters. Fishing boats and other small seacraft are advised not to venture out into the sea, while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves in Batanes, Calayan, Babuyan, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Aurora, Catanduanes; the northern and eastern seaboards of Camarines Provinces; the eastern coasts of Albay, Sorsogon, and Quezon including Polilio Island; northern and eastern coasts of Northern Samar; and the eastern coast of Eastern Samar.