MANILA, Philippines—As Typhoon “Mina” closed the month of August with a death toll of 16 in its deadly onslaught across North Luzon last weekend, the state weather office on Monday warned that more storms just as strong would whip the country in the so-called “ber” months ahead.
Nathaniel Servando, administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said the Philippines has entered a period where more potent storms are forming in the Pacific.
Servando said fierce typhoons are expected to make landfall in the months of September, October, November and December, the so-called “ber” months that lead to the holiday season.
“Starting September to the last quarter of the year, we expect stronger landfalling typhoons,” Servando said in an interview on Monday.
Servando noted that the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the area near the equator where winds from the north and south meet and oscillate, would be moving downward to the southern hemisphere in these months. Servando said this would create a breeding ground for more violent storms.
Rene Paciente, Pagasa’s senior weather specialist, said the country should expect two to three typhoons in September. The last quarter of the year would produce “compact but stronger” typhoons, he noted.
“October is the transition period, when the northwest monsoon, the cold air that travels from Siberia, comes in. We will feel the temperature getting colder. Cold temperature is the enemy of typhoons. They tend to form smaller during this period to prevent cold air from entering their system,” Paciente explained.
Meanwhile, typhoon Mina (international name: Nanmadol) weakened slightly as it moved away from the Philippines and headed to Taiwan and the coast of China.
The typhoon, which at one point had maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour gusting at 230 kph, was the strongest to enter the country this year, compelling Pagasa to raise storm warning Signal No. 4 in provinces in its path over the weekend.
In its bulletin issued at 11 a.m. Monday, Pagasa said Mina’s maximum sustained winds was measured at 100 kph as of 10 a.m., 10 kph slower than its strength at 4 a.m.
Paciente said there was no chance that Mina would return to the Philippines.
The storm was gusting at 130 kph and was headed northwest at 9 kph. It is expected to be at 520 km northwest of Batanes by Tuesday, the weather agency said.
Public Signal No. 1 remains over the Batanes Group of Islands. Storm warnings elsewhere have been lowered.
Despite Mina’s exit, the western coast of the Philippines, including Metro Manila, will experience rains in the next few days, Servando said. He noted that the southwest monsoon would prevail in these regions after Mina.
As of Monday, Pagasa said there were no weather disturbances in the Pacific that could affect the country.