The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Monday it was tracking the Intertropical Convergence Zone outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), with the weather system possibly influencing conditions in parts of the country later this week.
While the ITCZ has yet to directly affect any area in the Philippines, Pagasa said the system may start bringing rain showers over parts of the Visayas and Mindanao by Thursday or Friday if it moves closer.
The weather bureau said the ITCZ forms where winds coming from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres meet, creating cloud clusters that may eventually develop into a low pressure area.
It noted that no low pressure area had formed within the country’s monitoring zone as of Monday morning, but the agency continued to watch the system’s development outside PAR.
Across much of the country, the easterlies remained the dominant weather system, bringing generally warm and humid conditions, along with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening.
In Metro Manila, temperatures were expected to range from 24 degrees Celsius to 35 degrees Celsius, while hotter weather was forecast in parts of Northern Luzon, including Tuguegarao City where temperatures could climb to 38 degrees Celsius.
Pagasa also said scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may affect Western Visayas, the Negros Island Region, Zamboanga Peninsula, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and Palawan later in the day due to the prevailing easterlies.
The weather bureau added that no gale warning had been issued over any of the country’s seaboards, with sea conditions remaining generally manageable for small and large vessels.