Tropical storm ‘Lawin’ gaining strength

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical depression “Lawin” has been upgraded into a tropical storm as it gains strength and continues to move West toward southern Luzon, weather bureau PAGASA said on Friday, September 21.

In its 5 am bulletin, PAGASA noted that as of 4 am Lawin (international codename: Jelawat) is 670 km East of Virac, Catanduanes (13.5°N, 131.4°E), with maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h near the center and gusts of up to 80 km/h.

The tropical storm — the 20th to enter the Philippine Area of Responsbility so far this year — is moving West at 11 km/h.

PAGASA issued at 2 am a tropical cyclone warning for shipping which gave instructions to all vessels within the storm area to send reports to Manila every 3 hours and told them to expect very rough sea.

As for the weather, Metro Manila will experience partly cloudy skies with brief rainshowers or thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening.

Occasional light to moderate rains are expected in the Ilocos region and Cagayan Valley, and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy skies with brief rainshowers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the East will prevail over Northern Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough.

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the Southwest to West, with slight to moderate seas.

Here is PAGASA’s latest weather report for Lawin on Friday, September 2:

Weather Report September 21

– Rappler.com