PAGASA refutes false information about 'Super Typhoon Lakas'

State weather bureau PAGASA debunked false information on Thursday that the Philippines had been hit by a tropical cyclone similar to Super Typhoon Yolanda, which killed thousands of people in 2013.

The social media post falsely claimed that a tropical cyclone called “Super Typhoon Lakas” had arrived in the country with winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.

“Iwasan ang paniniwala at pag-share ng impormasyon mula sa mga hindi kumpirmado at hindi reliable na sources,” PAGASA said in an advisory.

(Avoid believing and sharing information from unconfirmed and unreliable sources.)

There are no active tropical cyclones in the Philippines.

A low pressure area, however, was observed in the vicinity of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, at 3 p.m., according to PAGASA's daily weather forecast on Thursday.

The LPA may bring cloudy skies with scattered to widespread rains and thunderstorms over Mimaropa, Western Visayas, and Batangas.

Cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may also be felt over Metro Manila, Central Luzon, the Bicol Region, and the rest of Calabarzon due to the LPA's trough.

The Southwest Monsoon, or Habagat, was expected to cause cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Mindanao and the rest of Visayas, while the rest of Luzon will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News