‘Florita’ bring rains to Northern Luzon

Tropical storm “Florita” (international name “ “Prapiroon”) further intensified and unlikely to hit land but its outer circulation will bring rains and thunderstorms over parts of Northern Luzon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration said yesterday.

As of noon yesterday, PAGASA spotted Florita at 795 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 105 kph.

Florita is moving northwest slowly over the Philippine Sea and will likely be outside the country’s area of responsibility today.

Florita will bring scattered moderate to heavy rains and thunderstorms over Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino.

While making its way outside the vicinity, PAGASA expects Florita to enhance the southwest monsoon or “habagat” that will bring scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Zambales, Pampanga, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Palawan, Oriental Mindoro, and Occidental Mindoro.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms. (Ellalyn V. Ruiz)