Tropical Storm Siony moves closer to PH

MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Storm Siony (international name: Atsani) blew closer to the Philippine landmass on Monday, as Typhoon “Rolly” (Goni) exited the country.

But the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said there was a “high degree of uncertainty” about Siony’s forecast track, due to its erratic movement.

As of 3 p.m. on Monday, Siony’s center was estimated at 655 kilometers east of Calayan town in Cagayan province. It carried sustained winds of 65 km per hour near the center and gusts of up to 80 kph.

Moving north

Pagasa said Siony was moving north at 25 kph.

In an earlier severe weather bulletin, Pagasa said the storm was expected to slow down significantly and become almost stationary on Tuesday through Wednesday morning.

Although still over the Philippine Sea, Siony’s trough will start to bring cloudy skies and scattered rains and thunderstorms to Cagayan Valley, Apayao, Kalinga and Ilocos Norte on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, after devastating the Bicol region and parts of southern Luzon on Sunday, Rolly moved westward on Monday and would soon be out of Philippine territory.

As of Monday afternoon, Rolly was 225 km west of Iba town in Zambales province.

From a supertyphoon category, it had significantly weakened into a tropical storm, with winds of 65 kph and gusts of 80 kph.

Its extension, however, was still expected to bring showers and thunderstorms to Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday.

The weather service said Rolly might continue to weaken into a tropical depression as it exited Philippine territory on Tuesday morning.