Approaching typhoon Soulik won’t land

MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image 5:00 pm, 09 July 2013

MANILA, Philippines—The approaching typhoon with international name Soulik, which is forecast to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Wednesday morning, is not expected to make landfall, although it may enhance the southwest monsoon and bring light to moderate rains over Luzon and the Visayas, the weather bureau said Tuesday.

The storm which will be christened “Huaning” once it enters the PAR, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Soulik was estimated to be 1,570 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes, outside the eastern PAR boundary, said Pagasa in a bulletin.

It was packing peak sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour with gustiness up to 160 kph. It is forecast to move west at 20 kph, it added.

“It will enter the PAR on Wednesday morning and will exit early Saturday morning at the PAR’S northern boundary north of Taiwan,” said Pagasa forecaster Chris Perez.

“Typhoon Soulik will not have a direct effect on any part of the country today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday). However, it will enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains to the western part of the country beginning Thursday afternoon,” he said.

Pagasa’s outlook for Wednesday is for the Cagayan Valley, Bicol region and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon to experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, it said.