Cyclone Sinlaku intensifies into severe tropical storm outside PAR

Tropical cyclone Sinlaku has developed into a severe tropical storm outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), the state weather bureau PAGASA said Friday evening.

PAGASA said Sinlaku reached its new strength status at 8 p.m. Almost stationary, Sinlaku was last spotted 2,715 kilometers east of northeastern Mindanao, carrying maximum sustained winds of 95 km/h with gustiness of up to 115 km/h.

In an update, PAGASA weather specialist Daniel James Villamil said Sinlaku would enter the PAR late next week but is not expected to affect weather conditions in the country.

Villamil said Sinlaku, which will be given the local name "Caloy" once inside the PAR, would move higher and away from the country. —VBL, GMA News