Typhoon ‘Butchoy” is not expected to make a landfall in the Philippines but will bring rains to Visayas and Southern Luzon. (Source: Pagasa)
Tropical storm “Butchoy” entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) yesterday and intensified into a typhoon, bringing rains in Cebu that caused the temporary suspension of boat trips between mainland Cebu and Mactan Island.
As of 4 p.m. yesterday, Typhoon Butchoy was at 1,325 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora, packing a maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 170 kph.
Vhan Singson, weather specialist at the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) station on Mactan Island, said Butchoy would continue to move northwest of the country at 30 kph.
The typhoon has enhanced the southwest monsoon that brought rains to Cebu, Singson said by phone last night.
As of 6 p.m. yesterday, Singson said Pagasa Mactan was able to record 250.9 millimeters of rain in Cebu since July 1, already exceeding the normal average rain of 202 millimeters expected this month.
Pagasa, in its 5 p.m. bulletin, said Typhoon Butchoy was not expected to make a landfall in any part of the country and would exit PAR on Friday.
Butchoy is the second typhoon to enter PAR after typhoon Ambo.
At the Cebu City port, the departure of at least three vessels plying the route between Pier 3 in Cebu City and Muelle Osmeña in Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island were suspended for several hours due to zero visibility caused by a downpour early morning yesterday, affecting about 90 passengers.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu Station Commander Agapito Bibat said the vessels suspended were MV Segundo Uno, MB River Bus III and MB River Bus I.
“Although there was no gale warning issued by the weather bureau, it is always the assessment of the skippers to decide whether or not it was safe to sail,” Bibat said in a phone interview.
The Cebu City–Mactan Island trips resumed at 10 a.m. yesterday, he said.