Emong downgraded to tropical storm, passes close to Babuyan Islands

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Tropical Storm Emong (Co-may) is still moving north northeast, or away from mainland Luzon, at a very fast 40 km/h early Friday afternoon, July 25

MANILA, Philippines – Emong (Co-may) weakened further from a severe tropical storm into a tropical storm and was already passing close to Babuyan Islands, the weather bureau said early Friday afternoon, July 25.

Emong’s maximum sustained winds are down to 85 kilometers per hour from the previous 95 km/h. Its gustiness also eased to 115 km/h from 160 km/h.

At its peak, Emong was a typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h. It made landfall twice as a typhoon — first in Agno, Pangasinan, at 10:40 pm on Thursday, July 24, then in Candon City, Ilocos Sur, at 5:10 am on Friday. It started weakening due to Northern Luzon’s mountainous terrain.

The tropical storm is still moving north northeast at a very fast 40 km/h, and may pass close to or over Batanes within the day.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has removed Signal No. 3 since Emong was downgraded to a tropical storm. These are the areas remaining under tropical cyclone wind signals as of 2 pm on Friday:

Signal No. 2

Gale-force winds (62 to 88 km/h), minor to moderate threat to life and property

• northern part of Ilocos Norte (Dumalneg, Pagudpud, Adams, Burgos, Bangui)
• northern part of Apayao (Calanasan, Luna, Santa Marcela)
• Batanes
• Babuyan Islands
• northwestern part of mainland Cagayan (Camalaniugan, Buguey, Aparri, Allacapan, Ballesteros, Abulug, Pamplona, Claveria, Sanchez-Mira, Santa Praxedes)

Signal No. 1

Strong winds (39 to 61 km/h), minimal to minor threat to life and property

• rest of Ilocos Norte
• northern part of Ilocos Sur (Gregorio del Pilar, Magsingal, San Esteban, Banayoyo, Burgos, Candon City, Santiago, San Vicente, Santa Catalina, Lidlidda, Nagbukel, Sinait, Sigay, San Ildefonso, Galimuyod, Quirino, Vigan City, San Emilio, Cabugao, Caoayan, San Juan, Santa, Bantay, Santo Domingo, Santa Maria, Narvacan, Salcedo, Cervantes)
• Abra
• rest of Apayao
• Kalinga
• Mountain Province
• rest of mainland Cagayan
• northern part of Isabela (Quirino, Mallig, Quezon, Delfin Albano, Tumauini, Maconacon, San Pablo, Santa Maria, Cabagan, Santo Tomas, Roxas, San Manuel)

The highest tropical cyclone wind signal raised due to Emong was Signal No. 4.

PAGASA maintained its rainfall outlook for Emong, previously issued at 11 am. The tropical cyclone had left floods and landslides in its wake after hitting mainland Northern Luzon.

Friday noon, July 25, to Saturday noon, July 26

• Intense to torrential rain (above 200 millimeters): Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan, Abra, Benguet
• Heavy to intense rain (100-200 mm): Batanes, Cagayan, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga, Zambales
• Moderate to heavy rain (50-100 mm): Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija

Saturday noon, July 26, to Sunday noon, July 27

• Moderate to heavy rain (50-100 mm): Batanes, Cagayan

The weather bureau released a new storm surge warning at 2 pm on Friday, saying there is a minimal to moderate risk of storm surges with peak heights of 1 to 2 meters in the “low-lying or exposed” coastal localities of Batanes, Babuyan Islands, mainland Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur within 24 hours.

Emong is still projected to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday morning, July 26. On its way out of PAR, it is likely to keep weakening, and may just be a remnant low on Saturday evening when it enters the East China Sea.

Enhanced southwest monsoon

Even as Emong begins moving away from mainland Luzon, it is still enhancing the southwest monsoon or habagat, which is affecting the following areas:

Friday noon, July 25, to Saturday noon, July 26

• Intense to torrential rain (above 200 mm): Occidental Mindoro
• Heavy to intense rain (100-200 mm): Bataan, Pampanga, Cavite, Batangas, Tarlac, Laguna
• Moderate to heavy rain (50-100 mm): Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Quezon, Aurora, Quirino, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Marinduque, Romblon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Antique

Saturday noon, July 26, to Sunday noon, July 27

• Heavy to intense rain (100-200 mm): Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet
• Moderate to heavy rain (50-100 mm): Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Oriental Mindoro

Sunday noon, July 27, to Monday noon, July 28

• Moderate to heavy rain (50-100 mm): Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro

The southwest monsoon is also bringing strong to gale-force gusts to these areas:

Friday, July 25

• Ilocos Region (areas not under a wind signal), Cordillera Administrative Region (areas not under a wind signal), Cagayan Valley (areas not under a wind signal), Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Visayas, Dinagat Islands

Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27

• Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora, Zambales, Bataan, Rizal, Quezon, Cavite, Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon, Bicol, Western Visayas, Northern Samar, Negros Occidental

The gale warning issued at 5 am on Friday, covering the seaboards of Northern Luzon and the western seaboards of Central Luzon and Southern Luzon, remains in effect. But conditions have begun to improve in some seaboards as Emong weakens.

Up to very rough seas (travel is risky for all vessels)

• Eastern seaboard of mainland Cagayan; seaboard of Isabela – waves up to 5.5 meters high
• Seaboards of Batanes, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, and Zambales; western seaboards of Bataan and Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Islands; remaining seaboards of Cagayan including Babuyan Islands – waves up to 4.5 meters high

Up to rough seas (small vessels should not venture out to sea)

• Northeastern seaboard of Aurora; western seaboards of Palawan including Calamian Islands, Cavite, and Batangas; remaining seaboard of Occidental Mindoro – waves up to 3.5 meters high

Up to moderate seas (small vessels should take precautionary measures or avoid sailing, if possible)

• Seaboards of Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Marinduque, Kalayaan Islands, Cuyo Islands, Cagayancillo Islands, and Antique; remaining seaboards of Bataan, Aurora, Cavite, Batangas, and Calamian Islands; southern seaboard of Quezon; eastern seaboard of Oriental Mindoro; northern and western seaboards of Romblon; western seaboard of Aklan including Caluya Islands; eastern seaboards of Catanduanes and Davao Oriental – waves up to 2.5 meters high
• Seaboards of Northern Samar and Surigao del Sur; remaining seaboards of Bicol, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, and Romblon; southwestern seaboard of Negros Occidental and Iloilo; western seaboard of Guimaras – waves up to 2 meters high

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Krosa

In addition, PAGASA continues to monitor Tropical Storm Krosa, located outside PAR. It was 2,260 kilometers east of Central Luzon as of 10 am on Friday, moving north northeast at a slightly faster 15 km/h from 10 km/h.

Krosa still has maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h and gustiness of up to 80 km/h.

The tropical storm remains unlikely to enter PAR, but the weather bureau urged the public to keep monitoring updates. – Rappler.com