Typhoon ‘Lawin’ picks up, heads for Batanes

MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image 3:32 a.m., 27 September 2012

Typhoon “Lawin” sped up slightly as it continued its movement towards the northern Philippines, the state weather bureau said.

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, the eye of the supertyphoon was plotted by satellite and surface data at 410 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

Lawin was packing maximum sustained winds of 215 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 250 kph. It was moving northwest at 13 kph, slightly faster than its previous speed of 11 kph, Pagasa said in a bulletin.

Public storm warning signal No. 2 was hoisted over the Batanes group of islands and Cagayan, including the Calayan and Babuyan groups of islands.

On the other hand, signal No. 1 was raised in Ilocos Norte, Kalinga, Apayao, Abra and Isabela.

Pagasa said Lawin might make landfall Thursday, although another possible scenario was that it might not make landfall anymore, based on certain models. As of Wednesday, it was moving toward the Batanes-Cagayan area. DJ Yap