First, the good news: “Gorio,” while a severe tropical storm, would not turn into a typhoon.
The bad news: It would continue to suck the habagat (southwest monsoon) inland and bring rains over parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, and the Visayas.
But the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) is monitoring another low-pressure area (LPA) that could turn into a tropical depression.
No direct effect
According to Rene Paciente, Pagasa weather services assistant chief, Gorio had no direct effect on any part of the country and had little chance of making landfall. Storm signal No. 1, however, was still hoisted over Batanes, the country’s northernmost province.
At 5 p.m. on Thursday, Gorio’s center was 595 kilometers east of Tuguegarao City maintaining maximum sustained winds of 90 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 115 kph as it moves north-northwest at 13 kph.
Paciente said there would be moderate to heavy rains within Gorio’s 550-km diameter.
Rains are expected to subside by the weekend until Gorio exits the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Sunday or Monday.
Flood warnings had been issued for the Ilocos region, Cordillera, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Western Visayas. Warnings against landslides had been issued in the Cordillera, too.
Sheila Reyes, Pagasa forecaster, said good weather was expected once Gorio exited PAR but Pagasa was currently monitoring another LPA which could turn into a tropical depression.