The Philippines could be battered by as many as five more tropical cyclones until the end of 2018, the state weather bureau has warned.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) added that most of these cyclones during the last quarter of the year are likely to make landfall.
“Normally when it’s northeast monsoon season, storms make landfall,” said weather forecaster Jun Galang.
The northeast monsoon or “amihan” is the weather system usually associated with cool winds during holiday season.
Predicting the intensity of the storms during this period is difficult but Galang said these are usually compact in size and much stronger.
Based on Pagasa’s tropical cyclone outlook, storms usually hit Luzon, Visayas and Northern Mindanao during the latter part of the year.
Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) was the strongest cyclone to hit the country this year, which left at least 60 people dead after striking northern Philippines.
The next tropical cyclone to hit the country would be locally named “Paeng.” /muf