‘Ramil’ intensifies into tropical storm as it crosses West Philippine Sea

The weather disturbance named “Ramil” intensified into a tropical storm midday Thursday as it crossed the area over the West Philippine Sea.

No storm signals were raised but moderate to occasional heavy rains are expected over the Cordillera region, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon due to the storm and northeast monsoon, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

Ramil was last located 365 kilometers west of Coron, Palawan, and packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph.

The tropical storm is moving westward at 16 kph and it is expected to exit the Philippine area of responsibility by Thursday evening or early Friday.

Pagasa said light to moderate with occasional heavy rains are expected over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon.

With the prevailing inclement weather, sea travel is still dangerous over the northern and eastern seaboards of Northern Luzon and western seaboard of Central and Southern Luzon, Pagasa said. /jpv