MANILA -- A senior meteorologist based in the United States said another tropical disturbance is threatening the country, especially the areas already devastated by the havoc of super typhoon Yolanda.

“A tropical disturbance spinning north of Papua New Guinea is expected to track through the Philippines in a very similar fashion to Haiyan (Yolanda) at midweek,” Accuweather.com’s Kristina Pydynowski said.

“The good news is that winds within the system will be significantly weaker than in Haiyan when it reaches the Philippines. The bad news is that the disturbance is still expected to strengthen into a tropical storm and will return heavy rain to the areas devastated by Haiyan,” she said.

According to Pydynowski, the new threat could reach the Philippines early Wednesday until afternoon of the same day.

“This system will not be traveling as fast as Haiyan, meaning there will be more time for heavy rain to pour down,” she said, warning that the rains could “easily trigger new flash flooding problems, especially with the ground severely saturated by Haiyan. Mudslides are again a threat, while any rain could hamper cleanup and recovery efforts.”

Quoting AccuWeather.com meteorologist Eric Wanenchak, she said a general 100 to 200 mm (4 to 8 inches) of rain will fall along the path of the weather disturbance.

“While the winds will pale in comparison to Haiyan, any strong wind gusts could toss around debris left in the wake of Haiyan and create additional hazards to those outside,” she said.

Yolanda or Haiyan, considered one of the most powerful storms in history, is believed to have killed at least 10,000 people in the Visayas.