Pagasa: 'Basyang' leaving RP, won't do a 'Pepeng'

State weather forecasters on Wednesday said typhoon Basyang (Conson) is already on its way out of Philippine territory and is unlikely to do a "Pepeng" – that is, make a complete U-turn and head back toward land. A high pressure area (HPA) over north of Luzon, particularly near Taiwan, is likely to bar Basyang from returning to the country, Philippine, Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) director Prisco Nilo said at a press conference. "Iyong high pressure area malapit sa Taiwan ay naroon pa rin so that will prevent the storm na bumalik sa Pilipinas," he said. Tropical cyclone Pepeng (Parma) entered the Philippines through the country's northern area in early October 2009. But instead of moving west and exiting through the country’s western seaboard, Pepeng made a U-turn, hitting more provinces in Luzon before finally leaving the country westward again. The culprit for Pepeng's turnaround was another weather disturbance, typhoon Quedan (Melor), with its stronger winds pulling the then weakening Pepeng back to land. Basyang's speed — estimated at 22 kph for the last two days — indicates the cyclone will exit the country soon, Nilo said. "Based on information available, medyo remote ang possibilty na bumalik ang bagyo," the PAGASA director said, adding that Basyang will be out of the country by Thursday morning. Only a storm signal number 1 remains in place in parts of Luzon, including:

• Batangas
• Cavite
• Lubang Island
• Bataan
• Zambales
• Northern Mindoro
• Metro Manila

Power back in 20 percent of affected areas In its 11 a.m. weather bulletin, PAGASA said that Basyang was last spotted 150 kilometers southwest of Iba in Zambales province. It packed maximum sustained winds of 95 kph and gustiness of 120 kph. Its decreasing wind speed — down from Tuesday’s 120 kph — had prompted PAGASA to downgrade the cyclone's classification from a typhoon back to a storm. Basyang made landfall Tuesday night in Infanta town in Quezon province. Its strength had toppled billboards and trees, sending them crashing into power lines, leading to a "system-wide blackout" in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. Meralco, which distributes electricity to most homes and businesses in Metro Manila and nearby areas, promised to restore power within the day. [See: Power back in most of Metro Manila, nearby provinces within the day - Meralco] As of Wednesday noon, Meralco officials were quoted in a Balitanghali report as saying that power has already been restored in 10 to 20 percent of the affected areas. Basyang of little help in increasing water levels in Angat Susan Espinueva, officer-in-charge of PAGASA’s hydrometeorological division, said that as expected, Basyang's rains were of little help in increasing water level at major water reservoirs in Luzon. "The Angat Dam maintains its receding trend in spite of the rainfall," she said in describing situation at the Bulacan dam, which supplies most of Metro Manila's water needs. Espinueva said that while Basyang's rains were at "minimum" level, it was better than no rain at all. She said that water levels in Luzon dams continue to go down, although at a slower rate than in past days, thanks to Basyang. "During the previous days the range of decrease was baout 0.45 or 0.38 cm. But now, 0.14 cm na lang. So more or less nakatulong pa rin ito para maibsan ang pag-recede ng tubig," she said. She said information about the situation at the Angat Dam that Pagasa had been receiving were only until 8 p.m. Tuesday because power interruption in the dam also hampered recording and transmission of data. [See: PAGASA still pushes cloud seeding after storm Basyang] New radars help simplify weather monitoring Pagasa announced that helping them simplify monitoring Basyang were the new Doppler radar equipment that had been installed in various parts of the Philippines. He said radars in Baler, Aurora, and Baguio City in Benguet were already operational. Meanwhile, radars in Subic, Zambales, and parts of Mindanao are expected to be operational either by August or September. Despite the new monitoring equipment, PAGASA admitted the need to "improve" exisiting models in monitoring weather conditions in the country. — LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV