Typhoon Ulysses batters Southern and Central Luzon, Signal No. 3 in 16 areas

MANILA, Philippines – Strong winds and heavy rainfall will prevail in many parts of Luzon Thursday morning as Typhoon Ulysses rumbles through the region, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

In its 5 a.m. severe weather bulletin, Pagasa warned that  “destructive winds and heavy to intense with at times torrential rainfall associated with the region of inner rainbands and eyewall of the typhoon will be experienced over central and southern portions of Aurora, the northern portion of Quezon including Polillo Islands, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Metro Manila, and Rizal within the next three hours.”

“Flooding (including flashfloods), rain-induced landslides, and sediment-laden streamflows (i.e. lahar) may occur during heavy or prolonged rainfall especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards and/or those that received significant antecedent rainfall.” Pagasa added.

Typhoon’s track

The center of the eye of Typhoon Ulysses was located in the vicinity of San Antonio, Nueva Ecija  at 4 a.m. Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 255 kph while moving west northwest at 25 kph.

Ulysses is forecast to emerge over the western seaboard of Zambales Monday morning and exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility Friday morning or afternoon.

Warning: Storm surge, rough seas

The weather bureau likewise warned of possible storm surges in the coastal areas of Aurora, northern Quezon including Polillo Islands, Cavite, Metro Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Isabela, La Union, Pangasinan, Batangas, the rest of Quezon, Marinduque, and the northern portion of Mindoro Provinces including Lubang Island.

Rough sea conditions will also prevail in northern seaboard of Northern Samar, remaining seaboards of Northern Luzon, Palawan including Calamian and Kalayaan Islands and the seaboards of Bicol Region not under TCWS.

Pagasa stressed that sea travel is risky for all types of vessels over these waters.

TROPICAL CYCLONE WIND SIGNAL (TCWS) #3

(121-170 km/h winds prevailing or expected in 18 hours)

LUZON:

The southern portion of Quirino (Maddela, Nagtipunan), the southern portion of Nueva Vizcaya (Alfonso Castaneda, Dupax Del Norte, Dupax Del Sur), Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and the northern and central portions of Quezon (San Antonio, Tiaong, Dolores, Candelaria, Sariaya, Lucena City, Pagbilao, Tayabas City, Lucban, Mauban, Sampaloc, Padre Burgos, Atimonan, Perez, Alabat, Plaridel, Agdangan, Real, Infanta, General Nakar) including Polillo Islands

TCWS #2

(61-120 km/h winds prevailing or expected in 24 hours)

LUZON:

The central and southern portions of Isabela (Mallig, Quirino, Ilagan, Roxas, Burgos, Gamu, Palanan, San Mariano, Dinapigue, San Guillermo, Benito Soliven, Naguilian, Reina Mercedes, Luna, San Manuel, Aurora, Cabatuan, Cauayan City, San Mateo, Alicia, Angadanan, Echague, Jones, San Agustin, San Isidro, Ramon, Santiago City, Cordon), the rest of Quirino, the rest of Nueva Vizcaya, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, the southern portion of Ilocos Sur (Cervantes, Quirino, San Emilio, Lidlidda, Santiago, Banayoyo, Candon City, Galimuyod, Gregorio Del Pilar, Salcedo, Santa Lucia, Santa Cruz, Sigay, Suyo, Tagudin, Alilem, Sugpon), La Union, the northern portion of Occidental Mindoro (Paluan, Abra de Ilog) including Lubang Island, the northern portion of Oriental Mindoro (Pola, Victoria, Naujan, Baco, Calapan City, San Teodoro, Puerto Galera), Marinduque, the rest of Quezon, Camarines Norte, and the western portion of Camarines Sur (Pamplona, Pasacao, Libmanan, Cabusao, Sipocot, Lupi, Ragay, Del Gallego)

TCWS #1

(30-60 km/h winds prevailing or expected in 36 hours)

LUZON:

The rest of Isabela, Kalinga, Abra, the rest of Ilocos Sur, the rest of Occidental Mindoro, the rest of Oriental Mindoro, Romblon, the rest of Camarines Sur, the western portion of Albay (Tabaco City, Malilipot, Guinobatan, Pio Duran, Ligao City, Oas, Polangui, Tiwi, Malinao, Libon), and Burias Island

TCWS #1 in other areas is hereby lifted.

 gsg