WATCH OUT FOR ‘AGATON’

A cluster of clouds located outside the country that was supposed to be tropical depression Wilma has ceased to be a threat. But another weather disturbance quickly began to form in its wake and may become the first storm of 2018.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the cloud cluster located just outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) could become a tropical depression that may enter PAR today or tomorrow. If it does, it will be named Agaton.

It could make landfall on the first day of 2018, said PAGASA Visayas director Oscar Tabada.

Tabada said that while tropical depression Wilma dissipated just before it entered PAR, its remnant energy started to gather together again. When a low-pressure area combines with thunderstorms and creates a circular wind flow, a tropical depression forms.

Last Dec. 22, tropical storm Vinta weakened into a tropical depression some 13 hours after it had made landfall in Davao Oriental. However, it picked up strength again. Some 24 hours after it had been downgraded into a tropical depression, it became a severe tropical storm again as it approached Palawan.

It left 252 persons dead in its wake in three regions in Mindanao, with over 100 others still missing.

Tabada said there is a 50 percent chance that the LPA will become a tropical depression and may hit Eastern Visayas or Eastern Mindanao in the first week of 2018. But Tabada also clarified that international weather models are still not clear as to where Agaton’s movements may lead. Based on the European weather model, the LPA could make landfall in Surigao.

While the LPA has yet to enter PAR, Cebu will experience partly cloudy skies and slight rains today. On Sunday, expect cloudy skies with light to moderate rains, while on Monday, windy skies with light to moderate rains are on the forecast.