Weather satellite image from Pagasa website
MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Depression Obet maintained its strength as it moved northwestward over the Philippine Sea towards extreme northern Luzon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Wednesday.
During a press conference, Pagasa weather specialist Chris Perez said Obet was last located 1,025 kilometers east of extreme northern Luzon based on their 11 a.m. typhoon bulletin.
It was moving north-northwestward at 15 kilometers per hour (kph) with maximum sustained winds of 45 kph and gustiness of 55 kph.
“‘Yung forecast track ay halos katulad ng bagyong si Neneng, at ‘yung inaasahan pa rin nating lugar na direktang maapektuhan nakararami ang bahagi ng Northern Luzon,” said Perez.
(The forecast track is almost the same as typhoon Neneng, and the area we still expect to be directly affected is mostly Northern Luzon.)
As of this writing, no tropical cyclone wind signals have been raised due to Obet but Perez warned that Pagasa may do so in some areas in Northern Luzon by Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
Also, the state weather bureau said Obet has no direct impact yet on the country although its forecast indicated that heavy rains may begin by early Friday morning and that parts of Northern Luzon may experience moderate to heavy with at times intense rainfall.
Perez nevertheless warned of strong to gale-force winds in the next 24 hours over Batanes, Babuyan Islands, and the northern portions of mainland Cagayan, Apayao, and Ilocos Norte due to the prevailing northeasterly surface windflow.
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