Good weather in next 3 days - Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines - The country will enjoy a respite of at least three days from the heavy rains, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said yesterday.

In a weather bulletin released at 5 p.m. yesterday, Pagasa weather forecaster Bernie de Leon said typhoon “Pepeng” (international name Parma) was already at the boundary of the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) and is headed out to South China Sea. Pagasa has lowered all public storm warning signals.

There was no weather disturbance monitored over the past 72 hours. A high-pressure area in the eastern section of the country would cause mornings to be sunny, but would bring isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms in the afternoons and evenings.

As of late afternoon yesterday, Pepeng, packing winds of 55 kilometers per hour, was located 250 kilometers west of Laoag City, moving northwest at 15 kilometers per hour.

It is expected to be 520 kilometers west of Laoag City tomorrow afternoon.

De Leon said, however, that five more typhoons are expected to hit the country this month until the end of the year. Two storms each month are expected from October to November, while a cyclone is expected in December.

The storms are expected to hit provinces in the Bicol region and Southern Luzon, as well as the Visayas region.

“It is possible that these typhoons might have the same strength as Ondoy and Pepeng,” De Leon said.

Meanwhile, Sonia Serrano of the Pagasa Hydrometeorological Division said five dams continue to discharge water. These are Ambuklao, Binga, San Roque, Pantabangan and Magat.

The volume, however, has been reduced compared to the release in the past few days.

“The volume of the discharge of water was smaller because there is less inflow,” she added.

The San Roque Dam in Pangasinan serves as the catch basin for the Ambuklao and Binga Dams.

She said they have been issuing advisories not only once a day, but as often as four times a day, depending on the necessity, to inform the public if water will be discharged from the dams.