A tropical depression from the east moved closer to Mindanao Wednesday afternoon, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. In its 5 p.m. bulletin, PAGASA said the tropical depression was estimated at 1,400 km east of Southern Mindanao as of 2 p.m.
PAGASA said the cyclone packed maximum sustained winds of 55 kph near the center and is forecast to move west at 19 kph. Should it enter Philippine territory, it will be codenamed "Sendong." PAGASA expects only one cyclone to enter Philippine territory this month.
"Extreme northern Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and isolated thunderstorms. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly over the eastern sections," PAGASA said.
It added that moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over extreme northern Luzon with moderate to rough seas. Elswhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the east to northeast with slight to moderate seas.
Meanwhile, strong to gale-force winds associated with the surge of the northeast monsoon may affect the seaboards of northern and western seaboards of northern Luzon. "Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves," PAGASA said.