A thunderstorm doesn’t only cause rains but also bring tornado-like winds and even hailstones, the Mactan office of the state weather bureau Pagasa said.
Pagasa weather specialist and meteorologist Alfredo Quiblat this explains the presence of strong, tornado-like widns that damaged several properties and injured 21 persons in the cities of Mandaue, Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Danao and the towns of Compostela and Carmen.
“Tornado is a violently rotating wind that overhangs from a cumulonimbus clouds otherwise known as thunderstorm cloud. When we issue a thunderstorm warning, the public should consider the possible occurrence of heavy rainfall, tornado, hailstorm, straight line winds,” he said.
Pagasa issued a thunderstorm warning signal over Metro Cebu, Aloguinsan, Pinamungajan, Toledo City, Balamban, and Asturias. Last night’s tornado originated from northern Bohol.
“Yesterday’s (tornado) traveled from northern Bohol to Cebu so it was mostly over a body of a water and may be a waterspout. It generates winds of 80 kph. It’s like a tropical storm category but covers a limited area,” Quiblat said.
He said a waterspout doesn’t necessarily bring water especially if it makes a landfall. Quiblat said a waterspout is a tornado that originates from a body of water, just like last night.
Pagasa recorded 7 mm of water during last night’s thunderstorm. Quiblat also advised the public to take precautions ahead of the arrival of typhoon Yolanda in the country.
Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) is located 1,000 kilometers from the eastern boundary of the Philippine Area of Responsibility and is moving at 24 kilometers per hour.
It packs maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour and is expected to intensify as it moves closer to the Philippines.
“There is an increase in the sea surface temperature over the Pacific Ocean maintaining at more than 24 degress Celsius,” Quiblat said. The latent heat produced by the warm seawater fuels the coming typhoon.
If Haiyan maintains its speed and considering the latent heat produced by the Pacific, the typhoons sustained winds would intensify to 225 kilometer per hour.
But Quiblat said Yolanda may weaken as it hits Samar by Wednesday night or early morning Thursday and would travel west north west between 150 to 200 kilometers per hour in Visayas.
Still Quiblat said Cebu may experience signal number 2 or 3 as Yolanda hits Samar.