The low pressure area is located 350 kilometers east of southern Mindanao on Wednesday morning, March 26

MANILA, Philippines – A low pressure area (LPA) inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility is bringing rain to parts of the Visayas and Mindanao on Wednesday, March 26.

The LPA was located 350 kilometers east of southern Mindanao as of 8 am on Wednesday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the LPA, which formed on Tuesday, March 25, is unlikely to develop into a tropical cyclone in the next 24 hours.

But it is causing scattered rain and thunderstorms in Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, the Davao Region, and Siquijor.

PAGASA warned the affected areas to watch out for possible flash floods or landslides during periods of moderate to heavy rain.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country will only have isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to the easterlies. The easterlies are warm winds coming from the Pacific Ocean.

So far, the Philippines has not yet had a tropical cyclone in 2025.

PAGASA is expected to soon declare the end of the northeast monsoon or amihan season and the start of the warm and dry season, often called “summer.”

The weather bureau had advised the public last Friday, March 21, to continue taking precautionary measures “to minimize heat stress, optimize the daily use of water for personal and domestic consumption, and prevent any accompanying health risks” associated with intense heat.

PAGASA also told media that La Niña is weakening in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. A return to El Niño Southern Oscillation or ENSO-neutral conditions is likely in the coming weeks.

“With this development, La Niña-like patterns of above normal rainfall in some parts of Luzon, most parts of Bicol, Eastern Visayas, and northeastern Mindanao are not likely to linger,” the weather bureau said.

La Niña, El Niño, and neutral are the three phases of ENSO, which the World Meteorological Organization defines as “a recurring natural phenomenon characterized by fluctuating ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, coupled with changes in the atmosphere.”