Obet slightly weakens after moving near Batanes coastal waters — Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Depression Obet slightly weakened after moving near the coastal waters off Basco, Batanes, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its Friday night bulletin.

Updates from Pagasa showed that the center of Obet was over Basco’s coastal waters as of 10:00 p.m., packing maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 55 kph.

It is still moving west at a speed of 20 kph and is expected to move out of the Balintang Channel.  Despite moving near the Batanes islands, state meteorologists have clarified that Obet did not make landfall.

Pagasa expects Obet to be 260 kilometers west of Basco by Saturday morning.

Pagasa also expects Obet to intensify into a tropical storm category cyclone by Saturday morning; by then it would already be outside of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).  After exiting the PAR, Obet would then make a slight southward nudge as it moves over the West Philippine Sea.

As of now, only Batanes and the Babuyan Islands are under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No.1, which means wind signals in other areas of mainland Cagayan have been lifted.

Still, Pagasa warns that light to moderate rains with at times heavy rains may persist over Batanes and Babuyan Islands, which may cause “flooding and rain-induced landslides are still possible, especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards.”

Coupled with the northeast monsoon surge, moderate to rough seas may be expected over the seaboards of northern Luzon.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said that they are monitoring a new low pressure area (LPA) over the Pacific Ocean, located over 1,800 kilometers east of Mindanao.  The LPA is expected to move inside the PAR in the next two days.

READ: Pagasa: Obet nears Northern Luzon; brace for wet, cloudy Friday

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