MANILA – The trough of a tropical storm outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) is forecast to bring rains to several parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, the weather bureau said Saturday.
As of 3 a.m., Tropical Storm Mekkhala was spotted 1,665 km. east of Southeastern Luzon, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kph near the center with gustiness of up to 90 kph, and moving west-northwestward at 25 kph.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forecast the tropical storm to enter the PAR between late Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning and will be named Francisco.

