BY VICTOR REYES
A TROPICAL storm may enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) tomorrow as a typhoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said yesterday.
The storm, with international name Surigae, intensified from tropical depression at around
2 a.m. yesterday. As of 3 p.m., Surigae was some 1,165 km east of Mindanao. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 90 khp, moving 10 at kph.
If it enters the PAR, it will be named “Bising” and will be the second tropical cyclone to enter the country.
PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas said there is small chance Surigae will make landfall.
Rojas said Surigae is forecast to get near the Eastern Visayas and Bicol regions, after which it will recurve towards Pacific Ocean. He said residents of the two regions are advised to prepare for rains due to the trough of the tropical cyclone.
Another PAGASA weather specialist, Benison Estareja, said the storm is still too far from land to say if it will make landfall or not.
Estareja also said the scenarios are that the storm will indeed get near the Eastern Visayas and Bicol regions, and that it will recurve after entering PAR, meaning a landfall is discounted.
