Siony slightly weakens as it nears PAR boundary

MANILA, Philippines — Severe Tropical Storm Siony slightly weakened as it moved closer to the northwestern boundary of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), the state weather bureau said on Friday afternoon.

The latest severe weather bulletin from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that as of 4:00 p.m., Siony was last seen 145 kilometers west northwest of Itbayat, Batanes.

It now packs maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 115 kph.  It is moving west northwest at a speed of 20 kph, and may exit PAR on Friday night.

As of now, only Batanes remains under a Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1, as all other wind signals have been removed.

Siony is seen to maintain its strength in the next 24 hours, but may dissipate in the coming days as cold winds from the northeasterly surface windflow will make conditions unfavorable for the storm.

Still, strong winds will affect Batanes which means gale warnings over the seaboards of the extreme Northern Luzon area plus the whole Cagayan coastline, and the northern Ilocos Norte area would remain.

Meanwhile, the LPA being monitored by Pagasa has entered PAR, and was last seen 955 kilometers east of Visayas.  State meteorologists said that the LPA has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression in the coming days.

If it develops into a cyclone, it would be given the local name “Tonyo.” But regardless of whether the LPA intensifies into a storm, it is expected to bring rains over Visayas and Mindanao over the weekend as its trough hits land.

EDV