Tropical Depression Ester speeds up on its way out of PAR

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MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Depression Ester accelerated on Friday afternoon, June 15, and is now on its way out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

In a briefing at 5 pm on Friday, state weather bureau PAGASA said Ester is already 295 kilometers north of Basco, Batanes. It is moving east northeast at a relatively fast 25 kilometers per hour (km/h), after barely moving in the morning.

The tropical depression has maximum winds of 60 km/h and gustiness of up to 90 km/h.

There are no areas under tropical cyclone warning signals, and Ester will not make landfall in the Philippines.

But the tropical depression continues to enhance the southwest monsoon, which has dumped moderate to heavy rain in Luzon all week.

The southwest monsoon enhanced by Ester will trigger moderate to heavy rain in the Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Batanes, the Babuyan Group of Islands, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan, and Zambales.

It will also bring light to moderate rain to Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, the rest of Cagayan Valley, and the rest of Central Luzon.

Residents of areas affected by the enhanced southwest monsoon should remain on alert for floods and landslides. (READ: FAST FACTS: Tropical cyclones, rainfall advisories)

Sea travel is still risky in the seaboards of Northern Luzon and the western seaboard of Central Luzon.

Based on Ester’s latest forecast track, it will leave PAR either Friday evening or Saturday morning, June 16, staying inside PAR for just roughly a day.

So far, PAGASA has not monitored any potential tropical cyclone after Ester.

The state weather bureau had declared the start of the rainy season last June 8.

– Rappler.com