Super Typhoon Soudelor to spare PH but will enhance ‘habagat’

SUPER Typhoon Soudelor, the world’s strongest cyclone for 2015, will spare the Philippines but will enhance the southwest monsoon or “habagat.”

Samuel Duran, weather forecaster of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said the southwest monsoon is currently prevailing in Mindanao.

Soudelor is “the strongest storm anywhere on the planet so far this year,” The Weather Channel reported.

The super typhoon packed maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour near center and gusts of up to 250 kph. It is moving west northwest at 20 kph.

Soudelor, which will be locally named Hanna, is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility by Wednesday morning.

It was last observed at 1,720 kilometers east of Luzon.

It is forecast to exit the PAR by Saturday and head towards Taiwan.

Monsoon rain, which may trigger flashfloods and landslides, will be experienced over Mindanao on Wednesday, Pagasa said in its afternoon bulletin.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms will be experienced over Visayas and the province of Palawan while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated thunderstorms will prevail over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon.