Ulysses slows down over Philippine Sea, maintains strength; Signal No. 2 up over NCR, 24 other areas

Signal No. 2 has been raised over 22 areas even as Severe Tropical Storm Ulysses slowed down over the Philippine Sea while maintaining its strength, according to the Severe Weather Bulletin No. 11 issued by PAGASA early Wednesday morning.

Hazards affecting land areas

Throughout the passage of the severe tropical storm, the areas under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 2 will be experiencing damaging gale-force to storm-force winds, while those under TCWS No. 1 will have strong breeze to near gale conditions.

Given the likelihood of intensification into a typhoon in the next 12 hours, TCWS No. 3 may be raised over Metro Manila and portions of Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and Bicol Region once Ulysses is upgraded to typhoon category.

In other areas, the rest of Northern Luzon will be experiencing strong breeze to gale-force winds due to the surge of the Northeast Monsoon.

As of 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the center of Ulysses was estimated based on all available data including those from Daet Doppler Weather Radar at 180 kilometers northeast of Virac, Catanduanes or 415 kilometers east of Infanta, Quezon with maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 125 kph and moving West Northwestward at 15 kph.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 2 is hoisted over the following areas:

Luzon

• the southern portion of Quirino (Maddela, Nagtipunan)
• the southern portion of Nueva Vizcaya (Dupax Del Norte, Dupax Del Sur, Aritao, Santa Fe, Alfonso Castaneda)
• the eastern portion of Pangasinan (San Nicolas, San Manuel, Natividad, San Quintin, Umingan, Tayug, Santa Maria, Balungao, Asingan, Urdaneta City, Malasiqui, Bayambang, Basista, Bautista, Alcala, Villasis, Rosales, Binalonan, Laoac, Santo Tomas)
• the southern portion of Zambales (Botolan, Cabangan, San Felipe, San Narciso, San Marcelino, San Antonio, Castillejos, Subic, Olongapo City)
• Bataan
• Tarlac
• Pampanga
• Nueva Ecija
• Aurora
• Bulacan
• Metro Manila
• Rizal
• Laguna
• Cavite
• Batangas
• Quezon including Polillo Islands
• Marinduque
• the northern portion of Occidental Mindoro (Paluan, Abra de Ilog) including Lubang Island, the northern portion of Oriental Mindoro (Pola, Victoria, Naujan, Baco, Calapan City, San Teodoro, Puerto Galera)
• Camarines Norte
• Camarines Sur
• Albay
• Sorsogon
• Catanduanes
• Burias Island
• Ticao Island

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 1 is hoisted over the following areas:

Luzon

• Isabela
• the rest of Quirino
• the rest of Nueva Vizcaya, Kalinga
• Mountain Province
• Ifugao
• Benguet
• Abra
• Ilocos Sur
• La Union
• the rest of Pangasinan
• the rest of Zambales
• the rest of Occidental Mindoro
• the rest of Oriental Mindoro
• Romblon
• the rest of Masbate

Visayas

• Northern Samar
• the northern portion of Samar (Santo Nino, Almagro, Tagapul-An, Tarangnan, Calbayog City, Santa Margarita, Gandara, Pagsanghan, San Jorge, San Jose de Buan, Matuguinao)
• the northern portion of Eastern Samar (Maslog, Dolores, Oras, San Policarpo, Arteche, Jipapad)

Between early Wednesday morning and late afternoon, heavy to intense with at times torrential rains will be over Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Catanduanes.

Moderate to heavy with at times intense rains, meanwhile, will be over Albay, Sorsogon, Quezon including Polillo Islands, and Burias and Ticao Islands.

On the other hand, light to moderate with at times heavy rains will be over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and Visayas.

Between late Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning, heavy to intense with at times torrential rains will be over Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Metro Manila, CALABARZON, Aurora, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Bataan.

Moderate to heavy with at times intense rains will be experienced over the Cordillera Administrative Region, mainland Cagayan Valley, Catanduanes, Marinduque, the northern portion of Mindoro Provinces, and the rest of Central Luzon.

Light to moderate with at times heavy rains will be over the rest of Luzon and Visayas.

Flooding (including flashfloods), rain-induced landslides, and sediment-laden streamflows such as lahar may occur during heavy or prolonged rainfall especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards and/or those that received significant antecedent rainfall.

PAGASA also said there is a high risk of storm surge with heights of up to 3 meters over the coastal areas of Quezon including Polillo Islands, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, and the northern and eastern coastal areas of Camarines Sur, and up to 2 meters over the coastal areas of Aurora, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Cavite, Batangas, northern portions of Mindoro Provinces including Lubang Island, Marinduque, Romblon, Masbate including Ticao and Burias Islands, Albay, and Sorsogon, and the remaining coastal areas of Camarines Sur.

These storm surges, which may be accompanied by swells and/or breaking waves near the coast, can cause life-threatening and damaging coastal inundation. Moreover, there is also a moderate risk of seiche or storm surge over the coastal areas surrounding Laguna de Bay.

Hazards affecting coastal waters

In the next 24 hours, rough to very high seas (2.5 to 10 meters) will be experienced over the seaboards of areas under TCWS and the eastern seaboard of Eastern Samar currently not under TCWS No. 1.

The surge of the Northeast Monsoon will also bring rough to high seas (3.0 to 6.0 m) over the remaining seaboards of Northern Luzon and rough seas (2.5 to 3.5 m) over the seaboards of Kalayaan Islands. Sea travel is risky for all types of seacrafts over these waters.

Moderate to rough seas (1.5 to 2.5 meters ) will be experienced over the western seaboards of Palawan including Calamian Islands, and the eastern seaboards of Mindanao.

Mariners of small seacrafts are advised to take precautionary measures when venturing out to sea. Inexperienced mariners should avoid navigating in these conditions

Track and intensity outlook

On the forecast track, Severe Tropical Storm Ulysses will move generally westward throughout the forecast period and pass over the seas north of Catanduanes between this morning and afternoon and north of Camarines Provinces between this afternoon or evening.

Due to the orientation of the track forecast, these provinces may fall within the inner rainbands of this storm during the passage.

The center of Ulysses is forecast to make landfall over Polillo Islands and mainland Quezon between tonight and early Thursday morning.

Afterwards, Ulysses will cross mainland Luzon and emerge over the western seaboard of Central Luzon between tomorrow morning and afternoon.

Ulysses is forecast to intensify into a typhoon within the next 12 hours and reach its peak intensity of 130-155 kilometers per hour prior to landfall and may slightly weaken as it crosses mainland Luzon due to the presence of the Sierra Madre and Zambales Mountain Ranges along its projected path. However, it is likely to remain a typhoon during its traverse. — BAP/RSJ, GMA News