TD Dante now out of PAR

MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Depression Dante (international name: Choi-wan) left the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Saturday morning, continuing its northeastward track, the weather bureau said.

In its 11 a.m. severe weather bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services (Pagasa) said Dante was last spotted 600 kilometers north-northeast of Itbayat Batanes at 10 a.m.

It is packing maximum sustained winds of 55 km per hour, gusts of up to 70 kph, moving northeastward at 35 kph.

“Dante left the northern boundary of the PAR at 9:30 AM today. This tropical depression will continue moving generally northeastward in the next 12 hours heading towards Ryukyu Islands and will turn east-northeastward tomorrow morning,” Pagasa said.

Moderate to rough seas can still be expected over the northern seaboard of Northern Luzon due to Dante, Pagasa said.

It advised mariners of small seacrafts to take precautionary measures when venturing out to sea, adding that inexperienced mariners should avoid navigating in these conditions.

Dante weakened from a tropical storm to a tropical depression on Friday after bringing widespread rain across the country earlier this week.

Dante was the fourth storm to hit the country this year.

/MUF