MANILA, Philippines — Tropical Depression "Emong" has accelerated as it continued to move toward Batanes-Babuyan Islands area, PAGASA said on Monday.
Weather forecasters said Emong was last seen at 215 kilometers east northeast of Calayan in Cagayan, or 160 km east southeast of Basco in Batanes.
It remains with 55 kilometers per hour peak winds, and gusts of up to 70 kph. Emong, the fourth storm to enter the country this year, threads a northwestward direction at a speed of 45 kph.
As of 5 p.m., these areas are still under Signal No. 1:
- Batanes
- northeastern portion of Cagayan (Santa Ana, Gonzaga)
- Babuyan Islands
PAGASA said Batanes and Babuyan Islands will experience moderate to heavy with at times intense rains from today until Tuesday morning.
"Under these conditions and considering antecedent rainfall, isolated to scattered flash flooding and rain-induced landslides are highly likely," it added in a bulletin, "especially in areas with high or very high susceptibility to these hazards as identified in hazard maps."
Emong will keep moving generally northwestward as it makes its way to Extreme Northern Luzon-Taiwan area.
But per its forecast track, it could pass close or make landfall in the vicinity of Batanes-Babuyan Islands sometime between 6 p.m. or 10 p.m., Monday.
The weather bureau said Emong will likely leave the country's jurisdiction by early Tuesday morning, but may also intensify into a tropical storm in the next 12 hours.
On coastal waters, PAGASA warned that seaboards of areas under Signal No. 1 and the remaining seaboard of Cagayan would see rough to very rough seas.
It added that sea travel would be risky over the said waters, especially for small seacrafts.
Forecast Position
- Tuesday morning: 170 km west northwest of Itbayat, Batanes
- Tuesday afternoon: 470 km northwest of Itbayat, Batanes (Outside PAR)
- Wednesday morning: 795 km northwest of Itbayat, Batanes or in the vicinity of Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China (Outside PAR)
— Christian Deiparine