More areas were lifted out of tropical cyclone wind signal no. 1, with only the Kalayaan Islands in Palawan still observing such warning, even as ‘Verbena’ intensified into a severe tropical storm on Wednesday morning.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the storm will move westward over the West Philippine Sea today and pass north of Kalayaan Islands. It is forecast to exit the country by tonight or tomorrow, Thursday, November 27.
“Afterwards, it will decelerate significantly and move slowly west southwestward until Friday (28 November) morning. For the rest of Friday towards the end of the forecast period, ‘Verbena’ will turn north northwestward while still moving slowly,” PAGASA said in its 11:00 a.m. weather bulletin.
Per last monitoring, the severe tropical storm was estimated at 375 kilometers west of Coron, Palawan or 310 km east northeast of Pag-asa Island, Kalayaan, Palawan. It was moving westward at 35 km per hour with maximum sustained winds of 95 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 115 kph.
