‘Ramon’ weakens, ‘Sarah’ intensifies as Signal No. 1 stays up in Northern Luzon — Pagasa
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2019 11:28:59 +0000
“Ramon” has weakened into a tropical depression as it crossed Ifugao while “Sarah” intensified into a tropical storm on Wednesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.
Signal No. 1 remains up in Batanes, Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur, the western portion of Isabela (Quezon, Mallig, Quirino, Roxas, San Manuel, Burgos, Aurora, Reina Mercedes, Luna, Cabatuan, San Mateo, Cauayan, Ramon, Alicia, Angadanan, San Isidro, Santiago and Cordon), Mountain Province, Benguet, Ifugao, La Union, Pangasinan.
As of 2 p.m., “Ramon” was spotted in the vicinity of Aguinaldo, Ifugao.
It was moving south toward Iba, Zambales at 20 kilometers per hour (kph) with maximum winds of up to 55 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph.
Weather specialist Raymond Ordinario said light to moderate with occasional heavy rains would be experienced over Batanes, Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, Apayao, and the northern portion of Ilocos Norte.
Ordinario said strong to gale force winds would prevail over Batanes and Babuyan Islands because of the surge of the northeast monsoon.
According to Pagasa, light to moderate with intermittent heavy rains would pour over Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Isabela, La Union, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya and the rest of Ilocos Norte.
Residents in these areas have been warned against flooding and rain-induced landslides.
Ramon is forecast to weaken into a low pressure area (LPA) within 24 hours, Ordinario said.
Ordinario said “Sarah” has intensified into a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of up to 65 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph.
It was moving north-northwest at 20 kph toward Aurora and Quezon province.
Sarah was located at 715 kms east-northeast of Infanta, Quezon or 640 kms east of Casiguran, Aurora. FRANZ LEWIN EMBUDO