Typhoon Fabian keeps strength; monsoon rain to continue over Metro Manila, parts of Luzon
MANILA, Philippines — Several parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, will still see rain up to Thursday as twin weather disturbances continue to enhance the southwest monsoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
Pagasa senior weather specialist, Chris Perez said Wednesday that moderate to heavy with at times intense rain prevail over Metro Manila, Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Region, the Cordilleras, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Occidental Mindoro, Northern Palawan including Calamian and Kalayaan Islands on Thursday.
As for the rest of Luzon as well as Western Visayas, the state weather bureau said overcast skies with rain showers and isolated thunderstorms will occur. The rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to localized thunderstorms, it added.
Perez said typhoon Fabian has kept its strength and has remained over the northern boundary of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). It was last spotted 670 kilometers (km) northeast of the extreme Northern Luzon, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 km per hour (kph), and gustiness of up to 185 kph.
Pagasa said Fabian, which was moving westward at 10 kph, is expected to leave PAR by Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.
“No warning signals in effect at the moment. However, any southward deviation from [the] center forecast track may result in raising Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 over Batanes and Babuyan Islands,” said Perez.
Gale warning is still raised in Batanes, the northern coast of Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, western coast of Palawan including Kalayaan and Calamian Islands, and Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Island, according to Pagasa, as rough seas may generate waves reaching 2.5 to 4.5 meters in these areas.
“Hangga’t maaari huwag nang pumalaot dito ‘yung mga kababayan nating mangingisda at ‘yung may mga maliliit na sasakyang pandagat,” Perez said.
(As much as possible, fishermen and those with small vessels should not sail on these areas.)
The rest of the country’s seaboards, on the other hand, will experience moderate to rough seas — except the southern seaboard where slight to moderate sea conditions may be expected.
Pagasa advised all fishermen to sail with caution in all parts of the country’s seaboards.
