Pagasa may lower or remove storm warning signals on Sunday morning

Track of the typhoon, map posted at 2:21 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, at the Pagasa Facebook page.

Storm warning signals raised on different parts of the country may be lowered or removed on Sunday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric. Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

If Typhoon “Ompong” would keep moving at its current speed of 25 kilometers per hour, storm signals may be lowered or removed by Monday, Pagasa Weather Service Chief Esperanza Cayanan said on Saturday during the Command Conference of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

As of 2:00 p.m., Ompong was spotted at around 110 kilometers west-northwest of Laoag City in Ilocos Norte.

It has relatively weakened, but was still packing winds of 170 kph near the center with a gustiness reaching up to 260 kph.

“We are expecting the weather to improve, except for some portions that will have some intermittent rainfall, particularly the western sections of the country,” Cayanan said, speaking Filipino.

She reminded the public, however, to take precautionary measures – even those in Metro Manila – as strong winds might still prevail, even though the typhoon had moved over to the sea.

The southwest monsoon, or habagat, had also enhanced the typhoon, making its winds stronger, she added.

She also advised fisherfolks in the Ilocos Region and the provinces of La Union and Pangsinan not to sail as storm surges of 2 to 3 meters high might still affect the waters off their coastline. /atm