(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Depression “Querubin” may be the last storm for the Philippines in 2024, the state-run weather agency said on Saturday.
Nathaniel Servando, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) administrator, told The Manila Times in a Viber interview that no new weather disturbance has been spotted forming inside or outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility until the end of 2024.
Querubin, the 17th tropical cyclone to hit the archipelago this year and first this month, brought heavy to intense rain in some areas but had less impact on the entire country as it weakened into a remnant low pressure area (LPA) after only 24 hours, Servando said.
“Based on our two-week tropical cyclone potential development, there would be a slim chance of another storm coming but an LPA could be possible,” he said.
In the meantime, weather specialist Grace Castañeda said the trough of the LPA (formerly Querubin) has been affecting areas in Mindanao, including Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi where scattered rains and thunderstorms would prevail.
Another weather system – shearline, where the hot and cold air converge – is bringing scattered rains and isolated thunderstorms over Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), the Bicol Region, Visayas, and Dinagat Islands.
The northeast monsoon or “amihan,” meanwhile, will be experienced over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon where partly cloudy to overcast skies with isolated rain showers will be likely within 24 hours, the Pagasa forecaster said.
