A satellite image of the tropical depression outside PAR as of 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 22. (Photo by Pagasa)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuanos will have to prepare not only for their Noche Buena on Christmas eve but also for the effect of the 21st typhoon to enter the country this 2019.
The typhoon, now under the tropical depression category, is currently located at about 1,510 kilometers east of the Mindanao landmass. It will be named “Ursula” once it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). It travels west northwest at 25 kilometers per hour (kph) with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph and gustiness of up to 70 kph.
Ursula is expected to pass across the Visayas during Christmas eve and Christmas day on December 24 and 25.
Read more: Pagasa: New tropical depression may enter PAR Monday
Romeo Aguirre, a weather specialist at the Mactan Station of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said the tropical depression would be expected to develop into a tropical storm before entering the PAR on Monday morning, December 23.
Aguirre said the effects of Ursula might trigger a Tropical Storm Wind Signal No. 2 to be hoisted over the entire Cebu province and other parts of the Visayas.
Read more: PCG to fishermen, sailors: Monitor weather, don’t sail if sea is unfavorable
“It will already be a tropical storm when it would traverse the Visayas by late Tuesday, December 24. On Christmas Day, December 25, its eye may pass through Cebu bringing intense rains and Cebu may be under Signal No. 2,” Aguirre told CDN Digital on Sunday, December 22.
“By Tuesday, dag-om na ug daghan na ang mga pag-ulan until Wednesday. Possible gihapon ang mga landslides ug flash floods kay expected nato nga volume sa tubig is heavy to intense tungod kay ang iyang center moagi man sa Cebu,” Aguirre added.
(By Tuesday, we will have cloudy skies and more downpours until Wednesday. Landslides and flash floods may occur considering the rainfall volume are expected to be heavy to intense because the center of the typhoon will pass through Cebu.)
The wet weather, Aguirre said, might last until early Thursday, December 26.
However, he said that the skies would already be clear at noon on Thursday in time for the annular solar eclipse that would be visible in the southern part of the country.
Cebu can see the annular solar eclipse at 82 percent./dbs