Residents living in the eastern section of Luzon should take precautionary measures against landslides because the northeast monsoon will bring light to moderate rains until Thursday, the state weather bureau advised Wednesday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms, which will become isolated in Mindanao on Thursday because of the prevailing “hanging amihan”.

In a weather update, PAGASA said the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rains and thunderstorms, with moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast.

PAGASA senior weather forecaster Rene Paciente told the Manila Bulletin that the northeast monsoon has dumped 1.5 mm of light rains across Metro Manila in a 24-hour period on November 3, adding that the amihan has also brought 1 mm of rains in the metropolis from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Paciente said the prevailing monsoon will continue to bring light to moderate rains and gloomy weather in the eastern part of Luzon, which could trigger landslides in Aurora, Isabela, Cagayan, Quezon province, and the Bicol region.

“The surge of amihan intensified reaching 75 kph starting on Monday, which has been causing rains in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces near the eastern part of Luzon,” he told the Manila Bulletin.

Paciente said weather conditions are expected to gradually improve by Friday.

From November to February, the northeast monsoon coming from Japan and China replaces the southwest monsoon (habagat) which causes heavy rains in the tropics.