Severe Tropical Storm Siony slightly intensifies as it moves closer towards Luzon Strait, raising tropical cyclone wind signal no.2 over Batanes and the Babuyan Islands.
At 4:00 PM today, the center of Severe Tropical Storm Siony was estimated based on all available data at 340 km East of Basco, Batanes.
It is moving Westward at 20 km/h with maximum sustained winds of 100 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 125 km/h.
Strong breeze to near gale conditions due to the prevailing northeasterlies will continue over Batanes, Babuyan Islands, the northern portion of Ilocos Norte, and the northern and eastern coastal areas of mainland Cagayan until the arrival of tropical cyclone winds.
Based on all available meteorological data, the earliest onset of strong breeze to near gale conditions associated with Siony over the areas currently under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) #2 and #1 will be between tonight and tomorrow early morning. Damaging gale- to storm-force winds will begin to affect areas under TCWS #2 tomorrow morning. Based on the intensity outlook for “SIONY”, TCWS #3 remains to be the highest wind signal to be hoisted during the passage.
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Signal no. 2 still up over Batanes, Babuyan Islands due to Siony
Today, the trough of Siony and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) will bring scattered light to moderate with at times heavy rain showers over most parts of Central Luzon, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, Bicol Region, Visayas, and Mindanao. Moderate to heavy rains due to Siony will begin affecting Batanes and Babuyan Islands tomorrow early morning.
Flooding (including flashfloods) and rain-induced landslides may occur during heavy or prolonged rainfall especially in areas identified in geohazard maps as highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards.
The northern portion of mainland Cagayan, the northern portion of Apayao (Santa Marcela, Luna, Calanasan), and the northern portion of Ilocos Norte are under signal no.1.
The LPA was estimated 1,770 km East of Visayas (OUTSIDE PAR). It may enter the PAR tomorrow afternoon or evening and forecast to move generally northwestward towards Eastern Visayas – eastern section of Southern Luzon area. This LPA is likely to develop into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours.