‘Ramil’ skirts PH, but ITCZ to bring rain

MANILA, Philippines—Typhoon “Ramil” brushed the northeastern tip of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) Sunday afternoon but did not affect any part of the country, the weather bureau said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that while the typhoon, with the international name “Danas,” was hardly felt, the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) was anticipated to bring rain over Palawan and parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Forecaster Adczar Aurelio said Ramil was expected to follow the northwest direction of Typhoon “Quedan” (international name: Fitow), which left the PAR on Saturday.

Aurelio said that as of 4 p.m. Sunday, Ramil was estimated at 1,170 kilometers east of Itbayat, Batanes, with maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kph. It was moving northwest at 26 kph.

By Monday afternoon, Ramil would be around 800 km northeast of Itbayat, well outside the PAR.

While the typhoon is unlikely to bring rains, Palawan, Western Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms on Monday because of the ITCZ. Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening.

Moderate to strong winds are anticipated over northern Luzon, where coastal waters will be moderate to rough.—Jeannette I. Andrade

Originally posted: 6:19 pm | Sunday, October 6th, 2013