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MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Depression Nimfa maintained its strength and slow pace on Wednesday evening, September 18, with more rain expected from its trough as well as the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat.

In a briefing past 11 pm on Wednesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Nimfa is 750 kilometers east northeast of Basco, Batanes. It is slowly moving north northeast.

Nimfa still has maximum winds of 55 kilometers per hour (km/h) and gustiness of up to 70 km/h. But it could intensify into a tropical storm while inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

Nimfa is not expected to make landfall in the country, and there are no areas under tropical cyclone wind signals.

But the tropical depression’s trough or extension is bringing rain to extreme Northern Luzon. The southwest monsoon is also causing rain in other parts of Luzon and in Western Visayas.

Here’s the latest on the expected rainfall:

Wednesday evening, September 18, until Thursday evening, September 19

• Moderate to occasional heavy rain
• Zambales
• Bataan
• Tarlac
• Pampanga
• Pangasinan
• La Union
• Occasional light to moderate rain with intermittent heavy rain
• Metro Manila
• Cagayan Valley
• Calabarzon
• Mimaropa
• rest of Central Luzon
• rest of Cordillera Administrative Region
• Western Visayas
• Scattered rain and isolated thunderstorms
• rest of Luzon

Those areas must stay on alert for possible flash floods and landslides. (READ:  FAST FACTS: Tropical cyclones, rainfall advisories)

Classes have been suspended in some areas for Thursday, September 19. (READ: #WalangPasok: Class suspensions, Thursday, September 19, 2019)

Travel is also risky in the northern and eastern seaboards of Northern Luzon, with rough to very rough sea conditions. Most of the other seaboards of the country will remain moderate to rough, said PAGASA.

Based on Nimfa’s latest forecast track, it will leave PAR on Saturday, September 21.

Nimfa is the Philippines’ 14th tropical cyclone for 2019, and the 4th in September. (READ: LIST: PAGASA’s names for tropical cyclones in 2019)

The country gets an average of 20 tropical cyclones annually, but since 2019 is an El Niño year, only 14 to 18 tropical cyclones are expected.

Below is the estimated number of tropical cyclones from September to December:

• September – 2 to 4
• October – 2 or 3
• November – 1 or 2
• December – 0 or 1

PAGASA declared the start of the rainy season last June 14. – Rappler.com