Southwest Monsoon, ITCZ to bring rains over Luzon, rest of country

The Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) are affecting the country on Monday and will cause rains over many areas, according to PAGASA's weather forecast.

The Ilocos Region, Mimaropa, Zamboanga Peninsula, Bangsamoro, Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Zambales, Bataan, Abra, and Benguet will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the monsoon and the ITCZ. Flash floods or landslides may possibly occur during times of heavy to at times intense rains.

ITCZ, according to PAGASA, is the axis dividing the southeast trade winds and the northeast trade winds.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country meanwhile will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to the monsoon and localized thunderstorms. Flash floods or landslides may result after severe thunderstorms.

Coastal waters will be moderate to rough, with waves up to 4 meters, in Luzon, and slight to moderate in Visayas and Mindanao.

Sunrise was at 5:45 a.m. Sunset will be at 5:59 p.m.

Meanwhile, PAGASA is also monitoring Typhoon Chanthu, formerly known as Kiko when it was still inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

At 3 a.m., the eye of Chanthu was located at 790 km north of Itbayat, Batanes.

Chanthu has maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 190 km/h.

The typhoon is moving northward at 20 km/h. —KG, GMA News