"Agaton" enters Philippines

A tropical depression named “Agaton” has entered the Philippine area of responsibility yesterday afternoon, state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Tuesday.

PAGASA weather forecaster Ella Comahig said the cyclone is located 1000 kilometers east of Catarman, Northern Samar and has intensified into a tropical storm before it entered the Philippine territory.

She said that the tropical cyclone has entered the PAR at 11am yesterday.

“Pero, gamay ra ang chance na moigo ni sa yuta, maghuwat pa ta og 48 hours either mo-dissipate or mo-curve to Japan,” Comahig said.

As of midday Tuesday, the tropical cyclone was located hovering over the Pacific Ocean at a distance of 1,430 kilometers from the east of northern Mindanao with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph moving west northwest at a speed of 19 kph.

Comahig said good weather can still be expected. She added that the cyclone is expected to bring light rains, particularly in the eastern sections of Visayas and Mindanao in the next few days.

Most parts of the country will be partly cloudy with isolated rain showers, but emphasized that it would still be warm and humid.

PAGASA Administrator Prisco Nilo was earlier quoted saying the most likely scenario is that Agaton will not hit the country and will have minimal effect because of a weather system called “trough.”

“A frontal trough or canal in the northern part of the country near China, where the weather is still cold, is pulling the cyclone and diverting its direction away from the country. Before it could make a landfall in Luzon, the cyclone will likely dissipate,” Sawi said in a news report.

PAGASA senior weather specialist Daisy Ortega said that the El Niño episode also causes the diversion of the tropical cyclone’s path basing on PAGASA’s 5 am weather bulletin Tuesday, a wind convergence is still affecting Mindanao and Eastern Visayas, bringing mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. — Marjun A. Baguio/JMO