BRING out your umbrellas and raincoats!

Cebu will have cloudy skies and scattered rainshowers this week as the entire country is affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the weather bureau said.

Luciano Villamor, weather observer of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in Mactan, advises the public to be prepared for rainshowers.

The ITCZ, which has brought the rains, is expected to hang around during much of the week, according to the Pagasa.

The ITCZ, a band of heavy clouds and thunderstorms, would dominate Philippine skies in the next three to four days, Pagasa said.

The Pagasa forecast said cloudy skies, showers and thunderstorms would affect Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and the Visayas in the next four days.

All local government units in Cebu have been advised to be alert for possible floods in urban areas and landslides in mountain barangays.

Some flights going to Manila were cancelled due to bad weather in Manila.

Thirteen flights bound for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were diverted to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, on Sunday, due to heavy rains and poor visibility at the NAIA.

Two more flights were cancelled and seven others were delayed, according to a public advisory issued at 3:30 p.m. by the Manila International Airport Authority, which operates NAIA

The Manila International Airport Authority said the diverted flights were expected to arrive with the weather improving late Sunday afternoon.

The diverted flights were Southeast Asian Airlines' flight DG-022 from Caticlan, Zest Air's Z2-411 from Busuanga and Z2-303 from Kalibo; Philippine Airlines' PR-301 from Hong Kong and PR-168 from Dipolog; Air Philippines Express' 2P-034 from Busuanga, 2P-266 from Naga and 2P066 from Surigao; Cebu Pacific's 5J-786 from Butuan, 5J-580 from Cebu, 5J-964 from Davao, and 5J-888 from Cotabato; and Singapore Airlines' SQ-910 from Singapore.

The diverted flights were supposed to arrive between 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Only one arrived, Z2-303, at around 2 p.m. while only three revised their estimated times of arrival: SQ-910, 4 p.m.; and PR-301 and PR-168, both 3:30 p.m.

The cancelled flights are Cebu Pacific's 5J-327, which was supposed to arrive at around 12:30 p.m. and Legazpi and its return trip, 5J-328, which was supposed to leave NAIA at around 3 p.m.

At 12 p.m. yesterday, a low pressure area was spotted 170 kilometers northeast of Aurora province in Luzon.

Villamor said winds blowing from south west of the Philippines will bring about strong winds that will cause coastal waters from being moderate to occasionally rough.

The Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC) has been monitoring the conditions in Cebu to prepare for any untoward incident.

Colin Ruiz, monitoring staff of the CCDCC, appealed to the public to report any incident through their hotline: 262-1424.

“We are monitoring the barangays but so far wala man report,” Ruiz said.

Almost a fourth of rains that submerged Metro Manila under the wrath of tropical storm “Ondoy” in 2009 fell on Sunday, causing floods and heavy traffic in many parts of the metropolis.

Heavy rains brought by the ITCZ dumped some 90.3 mm of rainfall between 12 noon and 2 p.m., the PAGASA said.

The measurement taken at the Science Garden amounted to an average 45.15 mm of rain per hour, roughly six times the amount of hourly rains considered heavy. Rains measuring more than 7.5 mm per hour is considered heavy, according to the Pagasa.

In comparison, storm Ondoy brought some 341 mm of rain in six hours on Metro Manila in September, causing the worst flooding seen in the region in 40 years. Ondoy's downpour averaged 56.33 mm per hour.

Sunday's rains caused massive flooding in major thoroughfares, many reported real-time in social networking sites. Online users reported flooding in major roads like Edsa and Araneta Avenue in Quezon City, and streets around Ortigas and Makati City. /INQUIRER WITH EDISON DELOS ANGELES