Signal No. 5 seen in Uwan's possible landfall areas in Aurora, Isabela on Sunday night

State weather bureau PAGASA may raise Signal No. 5 on Sunday night ahead of potential super typhoon Uwan's landfall in Aurora or Isabela.

In its 5 p.m. Friday bulletin, PAGASA said Uwan is expected to make landfall over the southern portion of Isabela or the northern portion of Aurora late Sunday evening or early Monday morning. Uwan will then traverse the mountainous terrain of Northern Luzon and emerge over the West Philippine Sea on Monday morning or afternoon.

“Possible late tomorrow or sa madaling araw po ng Sunday ay lalakas ito bilang isang super typhoon,” PAGASA weather specialist Benison Estareja said in an interview on "24 Oras" on Friday. 

(It’s possible that it will develop into a super typhoon by late tomorrow or early morning on Sunday.)

"At yung ating mga wind signal number 5, ito yung pinakamataas po na possible na wind signal na itaas natin. Dito po sa mga posibleng tamaan niya yung possible landfall areas pagsapit ng Sunday evening. Dito sa may Aurora, ganyan din sa ilang bahagi pa ng Isabela, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, hanggang dito po sa may La Union and Ilocos Sur," he added.

(Wind signal number 5 is the highest possible wind signal that we can raise. This is for the possible landfall areas by Sunday evening. Here in Aurora, the same goes for some other parts of Isabela, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, up to here in La Union and Ilocos Sur.)

Based on PAGASA’s modified tropical cyclone warning system, areas under the highest wind signal of Signal No. 5 may experience winds of 185 km/h or higher in at least 12 hours.

Signal No. 5 means that the super typhoon poses an extreme threat to life and property.

Strong winds are also expected in areas not covered by Signal No. 5, according to Estareja.

“Hindi rin po natin dapat i-rule out or disregard yung mga areas na magkakaroon ng Signal No. 4 dahil makakaranas din po sila ng malalakas na hangin. So, ilan sa mga areas na yan, yung ilang bahagi pa po ng Northern Samar, Bicol Region, at dito rin po sa may northern tip ng Quezon at natitirang bahagi ng Northern Luzon,” he said.

(We shouldn’t rule out or disregard areas where Signal No. 4 will be hoisted, as they will also experience strong winds. So, some of these areas are in Northern Samar, the Bicol Region, and here at the northern tip of Quezon and some other parts of Northern Luzon.)

Signal No. 1 was raised in 21 areas, although Uwan, whose strong to storm-force winds spread outward up to 780 km from the center, has not yet entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News