MANILA, Philippines – Luis (Roke) strengthened from a tropical storm into a severe tropical storm at 8 am on Thursday, September 29, then left the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) at 9 am.

Luis’ maximum sustained winds increased from 75 kilometers per hour to 100 km/h, said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in its 11 am bulletin on Thursday. Its gustiness is now up to 125 km/h from 90 km/h.

PAGASA said Luis is likely to intensify further while moving over the sea east of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands. It may become a typhoon within 24 hours.

Luis was already 1,130 kilometers east northeast of extreme Northern Luzon late Thursday morning, still moving north at 20 km/h.

It had no direct effect on the Philippines since it stayed far from landmass.

Luis is the Philippines’ 12th tropical cyclone for 2022 and the fourth for September. It developed on Wednesday morning, September 28.

PAGASA expects 5 to 9 tropical cyclones to enter or develop inside PAR from October 2022 to March 2023. Per month, these are the weather bureau’s estimates:

• October 2022 – 2 to 4
• November 2022 – 2 or 3
• December 2022 – 1 or 2
• January 2023 – 0 or 1
• February 2023 – 0 or 1
• March 2023 – 0 or 1

– Rappler.com