Wipha moves away, habagat brings rain, flood risk high

Severe Tropical Storm Wipha continued to move away from the Philippine landmass on Sunday, with the southwest monsoon (habagat) bringing rains across large parts of the country and posing a high risk of flooding and landslides in several provinces.

According to Pagasa's 3 a.m. bulletin, Wipha was located 655 kilometers west of Itbayat, Batanes, with maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts up to 125 kph, moving west-northwest at 30 kph.

Despite remaining outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), Pagasa warned that monsoon rains would continue in Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Metro Manila, Benguet, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal, Oriental Mindoro, and the Ilocos Region.

Visayas, the rest of Luzon, Zamboanga Peninsula, northern Mindanao, Caraga region will see cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms, while the rest of Mindanao will have isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening.