MANILA, Philippines - Typhoon Florita (international name Neoguri) entered the Philippine area of responsibility late Saturday night and is expected to bring rains over most parts of Luzon and the Visayas this week.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said no storm signals had been raised in any part of the country as of 5 p.m. yesterday.
The weather bureau, however, advised fishermen not to go out to the eastern seaboard of Luzon and the Visayas due to big waves generated by the typhoon.
PAGASA senior weather forecaster Robert Sawi told The STAR that “Florita is not expected to make landfall in the Philippines, instead it will move toward the Okinawa Island (Japan) in the next three days.”
However, Sawi said Florita would enhance the southwest monsoon that would trigger moderate rains over southern Luzon and the Visayas in the next five days.
Rains would be more frequent over Panay, Mindoro, Masbate, Palawan, Negros and the Bicol region. The rest of Luzon would have cloudy skies with occasional rains. The rest of the country would be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, Sawi said.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the eye of the typhoon was spotted at 880 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour near center and gustiness of up to 220 kph.
It was forecast to move west northwest at 24 kph.
Florita is projected to be at 530 km east of Basco, Batanes Monday morning and 530 km north northeast of Basco or outside the Philippine area of responsibility tomorrow morning.