PAGASA: Sarah weakens into tropical storm; light to moderate rains to continue due to Amihan

Sarah has weakened into a tropical storm and is no longer expected to bring significant rainfall activity over the country, PAGASA reported in its 11 a.m. update on Friday.

However, cloudy skies with light to moderate rains may be experienced over Metro Manila, Bicol Region, Aurora, Quezon, Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan due to the Northeast Monsoon.

Sarah turned into a tropical storm at 8 a.m. as it moved in a north-northeastward direction at 15 kph.

Batanes and Babuyan Islands may still experience gusty conditions due to the surge of the Northeast Monsoon, but is forecast to gradually weaken throughout the day.

As of 10 a.m., the center of Sarah was estimated based on all available data at 430 km northeast of Basco, Batanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 105 kph.

PAGASA said sea travel will remain risky, especially for small sea crafts, over the seaboards of Northern Luzon (Batanes, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Provinces and Isabela) due to prevailing rough sea conditions caused by the Northeast Monsoon.

Sarah is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) between Friday night and Saturday morning, and to gradually weaken as it moves towards the East China Sea in the next two days. — RSJ, GMA News