By Catherine Teves/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The southwest monsoon (habagat) will bring rains over most parts of Luzon on Saturday, the weather bureau said.
In its 4 a.m. weather bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said monsoon rains will pour over Zambales and the Ilocos region.
The southwest monsoon will also bring cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over the Cordillera region, Cagayan Valley, the rest of Central Luzon and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan).
Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with rain showers due to localized thunderstorms.
The bureau also warned about possible moderate to rough coastal waters with waves up to 2.8 meters high off Luzon’s northern and western sections because of moderate to strong winds from the southwest.
Slight to moderate coastal waters with waves up to 2.1 meters high are possible in remaining areas of the country from light to moderate winds, it added.
On Friday, PAGASA officially declared the start of the rainy season in the country due to the occurrence of scattered to at times widespread rainfall associated with the southwest monsoon, during the past few days.
Rainfall conditions in July are seen to be generally near to above normal over most parts of Luzon and the Visayas, while generally below normal in most areas of Mindanao and Southern Visayas.
However, it noted that the weak El Niño condition persists in the tropical Pacific since the last quarter of 2018 and is seen to continue until August.
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