A low pressure area was spotted east of Mindanao Sunday, and is expected to bring mostly cloudy skies with scattered rains to some portions of the Visayas and Mindanao, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

According to PAGASA weather forecaster Mario Palafox, the LPA, which was spotted 860 kilometers east of southern Mindanao (Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur) at 2 a.m. Sunday, was still too far to directly affect the country.

“Based on satellite and surface data, the circulation of the LPA is not too good and so far this could not form into a tropical cyclone,” Palafox said. “However, it is expected that the LPA could bring light rains particularly in areas in the east of Mindanao.”

Palafox said the current El Niño episode could have affected the possible formation of a tropical cyclone from the low pressure area.

Based on PAGASA’s 5 a.m. weather bulletin Sunday, Mindanao and Eastern Visayas will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated showers or thunderstorms.

PAGASA also said moderate to strong winds blowing from the east to the southeast will prevail over Luzon, and coming from the northeast to east over the eastern sections of Visayas and Mindanao.

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate blowing from the northeast to the east.