‘Quiel’ to exit Luzon but rains to continue—Pagasa

MTSAT-EIR Satellite Image for 5 p.m., 01 October 2011

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon “Quiel” (international codename: Nalgae) is forecast to exit Luzon late Saturday afternoon but will continue to bring rains as it enhances the southwest monsoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

On its official account (@dost_pagasa on the popular social networking site Twitter, Pagasa said that as of 2 p.m., “Quiel” was seen 30 kilometers north of Baguio City and was expected to exit to the West Philippine Sea between 4 and 5 p.m. Saturday.

“When TY QUIEL is out of land and over the West PH Sea, it will start to enhance the southwest monsoon [habagat],” Pagasa said on Twitter.

Central Luzon and the National Capital Region will experience monsoon rains stating Saturday evening and will continue until Sunday.

In its 11 a.m. update, Pagasa said that Quiel, which made landfall over Dinapigue, Isabela Saturday morning, was packing maximum sustained winds of 160 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 195 kph, Pagasa said.

Quiel is forecast to move 26 kph westward and will exit the Philippine area of responsibility by Sunday morning, the state-run weather bureau said.

Signal number 3 remains up over Isabela, Northern Aurora, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino¸ Benguet, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan while signal number 2 remains over Cagayan, Apayao¸Ilocos Norte, Abra¸Kalinga, the rest of Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga, Zambales, Bulacan and Northern Quezon including Polillo Island.

Metro Manila, Camarines Norte, Rizal, Bataan¸Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and the rest of Quezon province remain under signal number 1.

As of 2 p.m., Pagasa’s Doppler radars and Synoptic stations have recorded heavy rainfall over Cabanatuan (33mm/3hr), Baler (24mm/3hour), Dagupan City (46mm/3hr) and Baguio (38mm/3hr).

Moderate to heavy rains (between 8-24 mm/hr) fell over Aurora, Quezon, Bulacan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac , Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Navotas, Malabon, Caloocan and Valenzuela, Pagasa said on Twitter.

By Sunday morning, Quiel is forecast to be 400 km west of Baguio City and by Sunday evening, the typhoon is expected to be 700 km west of Baguio City, Pagasa said.