‘Tomas’ weakens anew hours after reentering PAR

MANILA, Philippines — Severe tropical storm Tomas (international name: Man-yi) further weakened while moving over the Philippine Sea, state weather bureau PAGASA said late Monday morning.

"Tomas" earlier downgraded into a tropical storm from a typhoon as it re-entered the Philippine area of responsibility before dawn.

PAGASA said Tomas may weaken into a tropical storm in the six to 12 hours. The weather bureau earlier explained that the weakening is due to the interaction of Tomas with cold and dry air from the northeast monsoon or amihan.

At 10 a.m., the center of the severe tropical storm was seen 1,195 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan.

Tomas now has maximum winds of 90 kph from the previous 110 kph and gusts of up to 115 kph from the previous 135 kph. It is moving west northwest at faster speed of 25 kph from the previous 10 kph.

Tomas is not expected to hit the Philippine landmass and has no direct effect on any part of the country at the moment.

But the weather bureau still warned that sea travel remains risky over the northern seaboard of Northern Luzon and the eastern seaboards of Luzon and Visayas due to rough to very rough seas associated with the ongoing surge of the northeast monsoon. — Gaea Katreena Cabico