Typhoon Igme may head back for PH, Pagasa says

MTSAT ENHANCED-IR Satellite Image 2 pm 24 August 2012

MANILA, Philippines—Typhoon Igme, even after making landfall in Taiwan, appears to be headed back to the Philippines, while Typhoon Julian steadily approaches the so-called Philippine Area of Responsibility, the state weather bureau said Friday.

“Typhoon Igme is forecast to make a counter-clockwise looping motion within the next 24-48 hours due to its interaction with Typhoon Julian,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration  said in a bulletin.

The interaction between the two storms is called the Fujiwhara Effect, a phenomenon described by the US National Weather Service as the tendency of two nearby storms to move around a common pivot.

“It’s making a U-turn,” Pagasa forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said of Igme. But he added that it did not seem likely that Igme (international name: Tembin) and Julian (Bolaven) would merge because both are strong typhoons.

“They will only merge if one of them becomes weaker and turns into a tropical storm, a tropical depression or a low pressure area,” he told the Inquirer by phone.

The likely scenario so far, he said, was that Igme would return to the country, while Julian would move toward Japan.

A special Pagasa weather outlook for the weekend predicted that Igme will leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Tuesday, while Julian will exit a day earlier, on Monday.

As of Friday, public Storm Signal No. 2 (61-100 kph winds) is still up over the Batanes group of islands, while Signal No. 1 (30-60 kph winds) was raised in the Calayan and Babuyan groups of islands, Pagasa

said.

At midday Friday, Igme was located 225 kilometers north northwest of Basco, Batanes, while Julian was 1,040 kilometers to the east.

Igme slightly weakened after interacting with the rugged terrain of southern Taiwan, packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kph, Pagasa said.

An indication that the Fujiwhara effect was already starting was that Igme was moving west-southwest at a slow pace of 7 kph, Aurelio said.

On the other hand, Julian maintained its strength as it moved  northwestward at a faster pace of 13 kph, with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 185 kph, it added.

Both storms are expected to enhance the southwest monsoon that will bring rains over the northern and western sections of the country.

Over the weekend, Metro Manila will be generally cloudy with light rain showers, the weather bureau predicted.

“This weather condition will continue to prevail in the next three days (Friday-Sunday) as Typhoons Igme and Julian interact with each other before leaving the country by Tuesday and Monday, respectively,” it said.