Rosal slightly weakens; 7 areas under wind signals

Super Typhoon Rosal slightly weakened early Thursday morning as it moved northwestward over the Philippine Sea, state weather bureau PAGASA said in its 5 a.m. bulletin.

As of 4 a.m., Rosal had maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour (km/h), down from 205 km/h six hours earlier, and gusts of up to 240 km/h. Rosal was last spotted 495 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes, moving northwestward at 20 km/h.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 2 was hoisted over Batanes and the northeastern portion of the Babuyan Islands.

Signal No. 1 was raised over the following areas:

- Rest of the Babuyan Islands
- Mainland Cagayan
- Eastern Isabela, including:
- Maconacon
- Divilacan
- Palanan
- Santa Maria
- Cabagan
- Delfin Albano
- Santo Tomas
- Tumauini
- San Pablo
- Ilagan City
- San Mariano
- Dinapigue
- Ilocos Norte
- Apayao

Batanes will experience stormy weather, while rains and gusty winds are expected over Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Cagayan, and Isabela due to Rosal.

The super typhoon will also bring cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over the Bicol Region, the rest of the Cordillera Administrative Region, the rest of Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Aurora, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar.

Meanwhile, Rosal's trough will bring cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over the Zamboanga Peninsula, Western Visayas, Negros Island Region, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, and Palawan.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will experience localized thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds and moderate to rough seas are expected along the eastern sections of Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, and the Visayas.

The rest of the country will see light to moderate winds and slight to moderate seas.

PAGASA said Rosal would make its closest approach to Extreme Northern Luzon between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. It is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Friday evening or early Saturday morning.

Rosal is forecast to gradually weaken and may be downgraded to a typhoon on Thursday. By Saturday, it is expected to weaken rapidly and may be downgraded to a severe tropical storm. — VBL, GMA News