Typhoon ''Inday'' maintains its strength as it moves northwest towards the southern islands of Japan even as Metro Manila and some provinces as far as Mindanao until Luzon will be affected by the rains from southwest monsoon enhanced by the typhoon until Sunday.

''Inday was spotted at 525 kilometers east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes as of the 5 pm bulletin by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

It had maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 170 km/h. It was moving north northwest at 20 kilometers per hour.

Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal Number Two is up over Batanes, the eastern portion of Babuyan Islands (Babuyan Is., Didicas Is., Camiguin Is.) and the northeastern portion of mainland Cagayan (Santa Ana).

The rest of Babuyan Islands, the rest of mainland Cagayan, Isabela, Apayao, the northern portion of Abra (Tineg, Lagayan, Danglas, San Juan, Lagangilang, Licuan-Baay, Malibcong, Lacub, Daguioman, Dolores, La Paz), Kalinga, the eastern portion of Mountain Province (Natonin, Paracelis), the eastern portion of Ifugao (Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista), and Ilocos Norte are under Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal Number One.

Rain of between 50 millimeters to 100 millimeters were felt by Metro Manila starting Friday afternoon and will be experienced until Monday. This resulted in flash floods in many parts of the city and visibility greatly reduced due to sudden strong rain.

These monsoon rains are being felt in areas as far south as Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur to northern provinces such as La Union, Pangasinan and Benguet, Pagasa said.

The biggest volume of monsoon rain, around 100 millimeters to 200 millimeters, will be felt in Occidental Mindoro from Friday to Monday, said Pagasa. Zambales and Bataan will feel the same amount of rain from Saturday afternoon to Monday afternoon. PHS