Only the provinces of Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan remained under tropical cyclone wind signal (TCWS) no. 3 as ‘Kristine’ moves over the coastal waters of Santa Lucia, Ilocos Sur, PAGASA said in its latest weather bulletin.
As of 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, the severe tropical storm was forecast to move westward or north westward over the West Philippine Sea before it leaves the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Friday morning.
“’Kristine’ is forecast to re-intensify as it moves over the West Philippine Sea. While it is likely that the tropical cyclone will remain a severe tropical storm in the next five days, the chance for it to be upgraded into a typhoon is not ruled out,” PAGASA noted.
The state weather bureau also mentioned in its extended outlook that “there is a developing forecast situation wherein KRISTINE will be looping over the West Philippine Sea on Sunday and Monday and move eastward or east northwestward towards the general direction of the PAR region.”
“However, this scenario heavily depends on the behavior of the weather disturbance east of the PAR region, which is expected to develop into a tropical depression within the next 24 hours,” PAGASA stated.
TCWS no. 2 remains in effect over the following Luzon islands and provinces: Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Benguet, Ilocos Norte, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, and Bulacan
TCWS no. 1 was also raised in the following cities and municipalities across Luzon and Visayas:
· LUZON – Batanes, Metro Manila, Rizal, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, the northern portion of mainland Palawan (El Nido, Taytay, Araceli, San Vicente, Dumaran, Roxas) including Calamian Islands, Cuyo, and, Kalayaan Islands, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, and Masbate including Ticao and Burias Islands
· VISAYAS – Aklan, Capiz, Antique including Caluya Islands, Iloilo, Bantayan Islands, Northern Samar, the northern portion of Samar (Calbayog City, Almagro, Tagapul-An, Santo Nino)
