It will be a rainy week for Cebu, according to Pagasa (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO).
7 Luzon provinces under Typhoon Signal Number 1
Cebu will experience heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms in the next few days even as it is not in the path of Typhoon “Ferdie” (international name “Meranti”), the state weather bureau said yesterday.
The inclement weather condition that will be felt in Cebu this week is due to rain clouds hovering over the Visayas and not as a result of the typhoon since the storm is too faraway from the Visayas and Mindanao areas, according to Meo Aguirre, weather specialist of Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Visayas.
Typhoon “Ferdie,” on the other hand, has intensified as it continued to move in a west-northwest direction at 20 kilometers per hour (kph), bringing moderate to heavy rains within the 500-kilometer diameter of the typhoon, according to the Pagasa bulletin released at 5 p.m. yesterday .
The typhoon, packing a maximum sustained winds of up to 185 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 220 kph, was expected to be 330 km east-southeast of Basco, Batanes, by this morning, 130 km west of Basco, Batanes, by Wednesday and out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Thursday morning.
Typhoon Signal Number 1 has been hoisted over Cagayan, Northern Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao, Abra, Ilocos Norte, Batanes and Babuyan Group of Islands.
Pagasa advised residents in extreme Northern Luzon to take precautionary measures against impacts of very strong winds and heavy rainfall.
All types of sea vessels are not allowed to venture out over Bashi Channel, which separates Batanes from Taiwan, and Balintang Channel, which separates mainland Luzon from Batanes, due to very rough seas, Pagasa said.