Marce may become typhoon before Northern Luzon landfall
MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Storm Marce (international name: Yinxing) may become stronger and reach typhoon category before hitting land in Northern Luzon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, Astronomical, Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
According to the state weather agency, Marce will first intensify into a severe tropical storm by Tuesday while moving northwestward over the Philippine Sea.
“By [Tuesday evening] or Wednesday early morning, this may reach Typhoon category,” Pagasa weather specialist Veronica Torres said in mixed Filipino and English.
Marce is forecast to make landfall near Babuyan Islands or mainland Northern Cagayan by Thursday evening or Friday early morning, she added.
Article continues after this advertisementHowever, there is still a chance that Marce will instead make landfall within Cagayan or Isabela, Torres also said.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Marce may trigger onset of amihan season, says Pagasa
Based on the latest tracking of Pagasa, Marce was located 775 kilometers (km) east of Borongan City, Eastern Samar, carrying maximum sustained winds of 75 km per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 90 kph while moving west-northwestward at 35 kph.
Marce’s trough or extension have been dumping rains over extreme Northern Luzon and the eastern section of Luzon since Tuesday morning.
It is seen to bring strong to gale-force gusts in Batanes, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Isabela, Ilocos Norte, Aurora and the northern portion of Quezon, Pagasa noted.