Karen leaves Philippines; rainy weather to prevail

MANILA - Typhoon Karen (international codename: Sanba) left the Philippine territory on Sunday but rainy weather condition is expected to prevail over most parts of the country until Tuesday due to the southwest monsoon, the weather bureau said.

Weather Forecaster Samuel Duran said many parts of the Visayas and Luzon, particularly the western sections, including Metro Manila, are forecast to have partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies with light to moderate intermittent rains due to the strong southwest monsoon, which is still enhanced by Karen.

Intermittent moderate to heavy rains will be experienced over the Cordillera Administrative Region, Quirino, Nueva Ecija and Aurora. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned residents in these areas against flashfloods and landslides.

The rest of Luzon and Western Visayas will have occasional light to moderate rains. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms in the evening, Pagasa added.

Duran said there is no weather disturbance inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) at the moment, but he added that one to two more storms are still expected this month.

In its advisory, Pagasa said moderate to strong winds blowing from the north to northwest will prevail over Northern and Central Luzon, and coming from the southwest over the rest of Luzon and Western Visayas. The coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough.

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest with slight to moderate seas.

The weather agency added that moderate to occasionally strong winds blowing from the southwest will prevail and Manila Bay will be moderate to occasionally rough. (PNA/Sunnex)