MANILA, Philippines — With the southwest monsoon or habagat still bringing rains over parts of the country, Typhoon Fabian (In-fa) largely maintained its strength throughout Thursday morning, per state weather bureau Pagasa.
In its 11 a.m. weather bulletin, Pagasa said that Fabian was last spotted 525 km Northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, packing sustained winds of up to 150 kph at its core, gustiness of up to 185 kph, and a central pressure of 955 hPa.
As a result, Batanes and the Babuyan Islands, where strong breezes to near gale conditions are expected, remain under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1.
"Occasional gusty conditions will prevail over the rest of Luzon especially in coastal and mountainous areas due to Southwest Monsoon," Pagasa said.
Fabian is is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility Friday evening or Saturday.
What to expect
According to the bureau, Fabian is "unlikely to directly bring heavy rainfall in the country throughout the forecast period" but is projected to move generally westward in the next 12 hours.
Pagasa added it will move generally northwestward until Friday evening then will turn north-northwestward until the morning of Sunday, July 25.
By the following morning, Fabian will move northwestward before turning west-northwestward by Tuesday, July 27.
Over the next day, monsoon rains "enhanced by Fabian" are expected over the following areas:
- Ilocos Region
- Abra
- Benguet
- Zambales
- Bataan
- Tarlac
- Pampanga
- Bulacan
- Metro Manila
- Cavite
- Batangas
- Southern Quezon
- Occidental Mindoro
- Oriental Mindoro
- Marinduque
- Romblon
- Northern portion of Palawan including Calamian and Kalayaan Islands
"Persons living in areas identified to be highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards are advised to follow evacuation and other instructions from local officials," Pagasa said.
The government's weather agency warned against sea travel due to hazards affecting coastal waters, including "rough to very rough seas" over the northern, western, and eastern seaboards of Luzon.
It added in a separate advisory that Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, and Occidental Mindoro are susceptible to "moderate to heavy with at times intense rains" due to the southwest monsoon.
— Franco Luna