THE low pressure area east of Camarines Norte developed into a tropical depression and was named “Maring” Thursday afternoon, October 7.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) tracked the location of Maring as of 4 p.m. Thursday at 505 kilometers east of Virac, Catanduanes with maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour (km/h), gusts of up to 55 km/h, and central pressure of 1002 hPa.

Pagasa said Maring was moving south southeastward at 15 km/h, adding that strong winds or higher may extend outwards up to 250 kilometers from its center.

The weather bureau has not raised yet a Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) in the country as of 5 p.m. Thursday, October 7.

It said, though, that the trough of Maring may bring light to moderate with at times heavy rains over Eastern Visayas.

“Under these conditions, scattered flooding (including flash floods) and rain-induced landslides are possible especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazard as identified in hazard maps,” Pagasa said in its weather bulletin.

It added that current track and intensity forecast showed that there is a moderate to high likelihood that TCWS will be hoisted over several provinces in Northern Luzon by Saturday morning or afternoon, October 9.

The highest possible wind signal for Maring is TCWS Number 2, but Pagasa is not discounting the possibility that higher TCWS may be raised due to the uncertainty in the forecast intensity. (LMY)