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MANILA, Philippines – Rain caused by the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat will persist throughout Friday, September 20, while Tropical Storm Nimfa (Tapah) again slowed down over the Philippine Sea.

In a bulletin issued 11 am on Friday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Nimfa is already 620 kilometers east northeast of Basco, Batanes.

The tropical storm is now moving west northwest at 10 kilometers per hour (km/h) from the previous 25 km/h.

It still has maximum winds of 75 km/h and gustiness of up to 90 km/h.

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

However, the southwest monsoon is still causing rain. Here’s the latest in terms of rainfall:

Friday, September 20, until Saturday morning, September 21

• Occasional light to moderate rain with intermittent heavy rain
• Bataan
• Cavite
• Batangas
• Occidental Mindoro
• Intermittent light to moderate rain with at times heavy rainshowers
• Metro Manila
• Oriental Mindoro
• Marinduque
• northern part of Palawan including Calamian Islands
• rest of Central Luzon
• rest of Calabarzon

Flash floods and landslides remain possible in areas affected by the southwest monsoon. (READ: FAST FACTS: Tropical cyclones, rainfall advisories)

Classes were suspended in some areas for Friday. (READ: #WalangPasok: Class suspensions, Friday, September 20, 2019)

Travel also remains risky in the seaboards of Northern Luzon and Central Luzon as well as the eastern seaboard of Southern Luzon due to rough to very rough sea conditions. The other seaboards of the country will remain moderate to rough, said PAGASA.

Based on Nimfa’s latest forecast track, it will leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday morning, 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