‘Helen’ moving slowly towards Northern Luzon

Source: Pagasa website

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Storm “Helen” (international code name: Kai-Tak) is slowly making its way towards northern Luzon and could possibly make landfall in the Cagayan province.

As of 10 am Tuesday, “Helen” was moving west northwest at 13 kilometers per hour and was last seen 230 kilometers east northeast of Casiguran, Aurora, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its report.

Signal number 2 has been raised in Cagayan including Calayan and Babuyan groups of islands, Isabela, Apayao, Kalinga, and Batanes group of Islands.

The provinces of Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Benguet, Mountain Province, Ilocos Sur, Abra, and Ilocos Norte have been placed under signal number 1.

Pagasa weather forecaster Robert Sawi said in a press conference Monday night that they were not discounting the possibility of “Helen” making landfall in the extreme northern Luzon.

Maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour have been recorded near the center with gustiness of up to 90 kph, Pagasa said.

The Southwest Monsoon would still be enhanced by “Helen,” which is expected to bring rains over the rest of Luzon.

Pagasa estimates 15 to 25 millimeters of rainfall throughout the 500 kilometer diameter of the storm.

Tropical Storm “Helen” is expected to be at 50 kilometers north northeast of Tuguegarao City by Wednesday morning and at 270 km West Southwest of Basco, Batanes by Thursday morning.

 Originally posted at 11:38 am | Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012