Pagasa: ‘Quiel’ gains strength, may develop into severe tropical storm

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Storm Quiel (international name: “Nakri”) slightly intensified Wednesday morning and may develop into a severe tropical storm in the next 24 hours, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

“Quiel” was spotted at 465 kilometers west southwest of Subic, Zambales or 465 km west-northwest of Coron, Palawan at 10 a.m., according to the state weather bureau’s 11 a.m. bulletin.

The weather disturbance, which is almost stationary, is packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 90 kph.

It remains less likely to make landfall and is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Saturday, Pagasa said.

Weather outlook

“Quiel” and the tail-end of a cold front will bring light to moderate with occasional heavy rains over the Babuyan group of islands, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, Antique, and Cuyo and Kalayaan islands in Palawan between Wednesday and Thursday morning.

Light to moderate with intermittent heavy rains will prevail over Batanes, Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Aklan, Iloilo, Oriental Mindoro, and the rest of Cagayan and Palawan including Calamian Islands, Pagasa added.

Residents in the said areas must watch out for possible flash floods and landslides, Pagasa said.

Sea travel is also risky on the northern and western seaboards of Luzon especially for small vessels due to expected rough sea conditions./gsg