Weather forecasters at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration PAGASA are monitoring 2 low pressure areas (LPA) outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). These two low pressure areas formed from cloud clusters in eastern Mindanao from the morning of May 4.
The first low pressure area, located 1.350km northeast of Mindanao, may enter PAR on May 5.
Although it is not certain that it will strengthen into a storm, this low pressure may bring rain to some areas in Visayas, Mindanao and Palawan on May 7 and 8.
The second low pressure area, 2,870km northeast of Mindanao, is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm in the next 24 hours.
The system may enter PAR as a tropical depression on May 9 or 10 and will be locally named Caloy.
This potential storm is unlikely to make landfall or affect the Philippines because it may weaken and dissipate offshore.
PAGASA forecasts 1 or 2 tropical storms to form inside or enter PAR in May this year.
Previous May storms either changed direction before making landfall or passed through the central Philippines and changed direction in the Philippine Sea.
The Philippines has experienced 2 storms this year: Tropical Storm Ada, approaching Eastern Visayas and Bicol in January, and Tropical Storm Basyang, passing through Caraga and part of Visayas in early February.
The Philippines is at the peak of the hot and dry season, expected to last until the end of the second week of May.
Warm easterly winds from the Pacific Ocean dominate the archipelago, bringing moisture that contributes to increasing the heat index and forming showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.
