MANILA -- Tropical Depression "Auring" may move through the Visayas after making landfall in Mindanao's Surigao area, possibly Sunday or Monday.
In its severe weather bulletin 1 released Saturday, the state weather bureau Pagasa forecast Auring to move west-northwest at some seven kilometers per hour and be 120 kilometers east of Surigao del Sur's Hinatuan municipality by Sunday morning, then reach the vicinity of San Miguel in the same province by Monday morning.
Pagasa expects Auring to be about 95 kilometers west-northwest of Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental by Tuesday morning and in the vicinity of Puerto Princesa, Palawan province by Wednesday morning.
Auring was the low pressure area (LPA) that hovered east of Mindanao earlier this month and intensified into a tropical depression Saturday.
Pagasa located Auring at 260 kilometers east-southeast of Surigao del Sur's Hinatuan as of 10 a.m. Saturday.
According to Pagasa, Auring was packing maximum sustained winds of 45 kph near its center and gustiness of up to 55 kph.
Estimated rainfall is from moderate to heavy within the 300-kilometer diameter of Auring, the bureau added.
Earlier, Pagasa weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar said the LPA's intensification into a tropical depression will likely bring rains to Leyte, Southern Cebu, Bohol and Negros Oriental provinces in Visayas, Mindanao's northern areas, Zamboanga peninsula and Caraga region, as well as Palawan in Luzon.
Such rains may commence Saturday night and last until about Thursday, she noted.
She did not discount the possibility of Auring further intensifying into a tropical storm, then weakening into an LPA while inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).
Auring will cross the PAR boundary and exit the area possibly on Wednesday evening, she said.
Pagasa forecast Auring to be at 25 kilometers west of Palawan's Pagasa Island by Thursday morning, already outside PAR.
The bureau raised Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal number 1 over Mindanao's Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Island, expecting Auring to fan there 30 kph to 60 kph winds and waves of up to four meters high.
Flashfloods and landslides are possible in such areas, warned Pagasa.
Avoid venturing into seas bordering Mindanao's eastern seaboard, Pagasa reminded the public.
"The public and disaster risk reduction and management councils concerned are advised to take appropriate action and watch for the next weather bulletin," Pagasa added. (PNA)