LPA east of extreme Northern Luzon being monitored

If the low pressure area develops into a tropical depression, it would be the Philippines' third tropical cyclone for October 2022

MANILA, Philippines – A low pressure area (LPA) that formed inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Tuesday, October 18, may head for Northern Luzon.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the LPA was located 1,085 kilometers east of extreme Northern Luzon on Tuesday afternoon.

PAGASA Weather Forecaster Patrick del Mundo said the LPA only has a slim chance of becoming a tropical depression – at least in the next 24 hours – but this possibility is not being ruled out.

If the LPA develops into a tropical depression, it would be the country’s 15th tropical cyclone for 2022 and the third for October. Its local name would be Obet.

For now, it is still too far to affect the country.

Meanwhile, the shear line is bringing rain to extreme Northern Luzon on Tuesday evening. Scattered rain showers and thunderstorms are expected in Batanes and Babuyan Islands.

The rest of the Philippines will only have localized thunderstorms.

Northern Luzon is still reeling from the effects of Neneng (Nesat), which made landfall in Cagayan province’s Calayan Island as a severe tropical storm last Sunday, October 16, then left PAR as a typhoon.

In Cagayan, the municipalities of Santa Ana and Santa Praxedes have since been placed under a state of calamity. – Rappler.com