A LOW pressure area (LPA) intensified into a tropical depression yesterday morning and exited the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) several hours later.
The LPA developed into a tropical depression at around 8 a.m. and was named “Kiko,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
Kiko, the country’s first tropical cyclone for this month and 11th for this year, exited the PAR six hours later or at 2 p.m.
The weather system did not directly affect any part of the country because it was far from the landmass, said PAGASA weather specialist -PAGASA Loriedin Galicia.
In a bulletin issued at 5 p.m. yesterday, PAGASA said Kiko was some 1,115 km east northeast of extreme northern Luzon as of 4 p.m. yesterday.
It was moving north northwest at 30 kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 55 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 70 kph.
“Tropical depression Kiko will move generally north northwestward in the next 12 hours towards southern Japan,” PAGASA said.
It also said Kiko was forecast to intensify into a tropical storm Wednesday night or early Thursday.
In a 24-hour public weather forecast, PAGASA said the Ilocos region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Babuyan Islands, and the provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Zambales, and Bataan will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the southwest monsoon.
Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, and the Western Visayas will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms also due to the southwest monsoon. The rest of the country will experience the same condition due to localized thunderstorms.
