For the 2019 Pacific typhoon season,
from which all weather disturbances that might affect the Philippines this year
are classified in, the last time a storm hit the country in 2019 was Tropical
Depression Chedeng, clipping southern Mindanao before dissipating in the Sulu
Sea. That was during the heyday of the El Niño phenomenon. When the rainy season
arrived, all notable disturbances beginning June gave the archipelago a wide
berth even while entering the Philippine Area of Responsibility. That however
might change with another TD that formed early this Sunday, as it is projected
to hit Luzon at around mid-week.
CNN
Philippines reports that on Monday, July 15, the Philippine Atmospheric
Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has forecast that
Tropical Depression Falcon, which formed southwest of the Mariana Islands on
July 14, will make landfall in Luzon this Wednesday, July 17. To be precise,
Falcon is expected to hit Cagayan province in Region II, bringing rainy weather
to the northern part of the country and strong winds at the site of landfall.
PAGASA adds that while the TD is not strong enough to withstand dissipating upon
hitting land it still stands to cause “great destruction” in the first hours.
At 2:00 AM today, the Low Pressure Area east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar has developed into Tropical Depression #FalconPH. Severe Weather Bulletin-Alert will be issued at 5AM.— PAGASA-DOST (@dost_pagasa) July 14, 2019
But even before that landfall in
Cagayan, the outer fringes of TD Falcon will already have generated rainy
weather to the Philippines. Both Region V – Bicol and Region VIII – Eastern Visayas
stand to receive thunderstorms and scattered rain showers from Falcon this
Monday. This will add to the volume of rain that is being brought to bear by
the Southwest Monsoon on Region IVB- MIMAROPA, the other side of the Visayas,
and all of Mindanao. Falcon is currently due east of Catanduanes and moving north-northwesterly.
As Falcon is a Tropical Depression, and could remain so until landfall, PAGASA has
raised no Storm Signals for it.
In the meantime, the Monsoon is
continuing to pour over the country over the course of this week. By Wednesday,
just as Tropical Depression Falcon makes landfall in Cagayan, there will be
moderate to heavy rains at Metro Manila, Regions I, III, all of IV and VI. Come
Thursday, July 18, the heavy rains will shift to the Zamboanga Peninsula and
Sulu archipelago while remaining in MIMAROPA and Western Visayas.
Regarding TD Falcon, it is measured
at having maximum winds of 45 km/h towards the center, a gustiness of 60 km/h, and
a travelling speed of 20 km/h. By the time it passes Luzon into the Babuyan
Channel, it can regain enough strength to become a Tropical Storm, but by morning
of Thursday it will be out of the country.
0 comments:
Post a Comment