Ursula maintains strength; to bring rains over Lubang Island, northern Palawan

MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Ursula (international name: Phanfone) maintains its strength as it threatens to bring light to moderate with intermittent heavy rains over Lubang Island and the northern portion of Palawan including Calamian Islands until Thursday night, the state weather bureau said.

Cloudy skies with scattered rains, meanwhile, will be experienced over Zambales, Bataan, and the rest of Palawan, according to the severe weather bulletin issued by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) at 5 p.m.

Residents in these areas are advised to take precautionary measures to reduce the potential impact of flooding and rain-induced landslides.

At 4 p.m., typhoon Ursula was spotted at 300 kilometers (km) northwest of Coron, Palawan or 295 km west-southwest of Subic, Zambales.

It is moving west-northwest at 15 kilometers per hour (kph) and packs maximum sustained winds of 120 kph near the center and gusts of up to 150 kph, according to Pagasa.

Tropical cyclone wind signals are now lifted for the northwestern portion of Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Island and Calamian Islands.

Despite this, the weather bureau said sea travel remains risky especially for small sea crafts over the northern and western seaboards of Northern Luzon due to rough seas.

Typhoon Ursula is expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility on Saturday morning.