Tropical depression could cause rains till weekend

July 18, 2018

A low pressure area in Northern Cagayan has developed into a tropical depression Wednesday morning, which could spur more rains until weekend. Weather forecaster Shiela Reyes said the weather disturbance, named Inday, gained strength around 8 am. As of 3pm, Inday was last spotted at 775 km east of Basco, Batanes with maximum winds of 60 kph and  gusts of up to 75 kph. It picked up speed as it moved eastward, from 15 kph in the morning to 25 kph, with central pressure of 992 hectopascals. Reyes said Inday is expected to be a tropical storm in the next 24 hours before leaving the Philippine Area of Responsibility Saturday afternoon. She said based on their forecast, Inday is expected to enhance the southwest monsoon that will bring intermittent moderate to occasional heavy monsoon rains over Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga and Bulacan. Reyes said scattered light to moderate with at times heavy rains are expected over Metro Manila, Cagayan Valley, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and the rest of Central Luzon until Friday. Robina Asido/DMS