PAGASA: Typhoon Butchoy to reach PHL Thursday 

The Philippines is facing the second typhoon of the year ‘Butchoy’ (international name: Guchol) which may hit the country on Thursday evening, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported Tuesday.

 

“Kung hindi raw magbabago ang kanyang bilis at direksyon ng galaw nitong si Butchoy ay papasok ito said Philippine Area of Responsibility Thursday evening o Friday morning,” Tricia Zafra reported on GMA News Tv’s “State of the Nation.”

 

Based on the 5 p.m. weather forecast of PAGASA, tropical storm Guchol is still in the Pacific Ocean.

 

“Oras nga raw na pumasok na ito sa Philippine Area of Responsibility by Thursday evening mas magiging malakas na ito at sasailalim na nga sa kategorya ng typhoon o bagyo,” Zafra noted.

 

PAGASA’s 5 p.m. bulletin also warned of continuing rains due to a shallow low-pressure area in Mindanao and a southwest monsoon over Luzon.  

 

It warned of floods and landslides in some parts of Mindanao and Western Visayas as a separate potential cyclone moved closer to about 110km southwest of Cotabato City.

 

“Mindanao and Western Visayas will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms becoming cloudy with widespread rains over Davao provinces, Southern Mindanao and Zamboanga provinces which may trigger flash floods and landslides," it said.

 

The state weather forecaster said the southwest monsoon is bringing rains over northern and western Luzon.

 

Moderate to strong winds from the southwest will prevail over Luzon and western Visayas and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough, according to PAGASA. —Rouchelle Dinglasan/VS, GMA News