Tropical Depression Josie crossing Babuyan Islands

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MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Depression Josie began crossing the Babuyan Group of Islands in the wee hours of Sunday, July 22, while still enhancing the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat.

In a bulletin issued 2 am on Sunday, state weather bureau PAGASA said Josie is already 25 kilometers east southeast of Calayan, Cagayan, further slowing down as it headed east northeast.

The tropical depression continues to have maximum winds of 60 km/h and gustiness of up to 80 km/h.

Signal number 1 is still raised over:

• Batanes
• northern Cagayan including the Babuyan Group of Islands
• Ilocos Norte
• northern part of Ilocos Sur
• Apayao
• northern part of Abra 

Josie also continues to enhance the southwest monsoon.

Moderate to heavy rain will persist in the Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Batanes, the Babuyan Group of Islands, Zambales, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija.

Scattered rainshowers, ranging from light to heavy, are also being experienced in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, the rest of Central Luzon, the rest of Cagayan Valley, Oriental Mindoro, and Occidental Mindoro due to the southwest monsoon.

At 1:30 am on Sunday, an orange rainfall warning was raised for Metro Manila, Bataan, and Rizal, which means intense rainfall and flooding is threatening. A yellow rainfall warning was also raised for Bulacan and northern Quezon, which means heavy rain and possible floods in low-lying areas.

Areas affected by Josie and the southwest monsoon should be on alert for possible flash floods and landslides. This is especially important as lands in parts of Luzon have already been saturated from the heavy rainfall in the past week. (READ: Monsoon rains increase risk of landslides in Baguio, Benguet)

Dagupan City in Pangasinan was placed under a state of calamity on Saturday, July 21, due to massive floods triggered by rain from the southwest monsoon.

PAGASA also warned that sea travel remains risky in the seaboards of Northern Luzon and in the western seaboard of Central Luzon, especially in areas under signal number 1. (READ: FAST FACTS: Tropical cyclones, rainfall advisories)

Based on its latest forecast track, Josie is expected to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Monday, July 23. That’s the day of President Rodrigo Duterte’s 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Josie is the Philippines’ 10th tropical cyclone for 2018. The country usually gets an average of 20 tropical cyclones per year. (READ: LIST: PAGASA’s names for tropical cyclones in 2018)

Josie comes on the heels of Severe Tropical Storm Inday (Ampil), which left PAR at 1 am on Saturday. Inday did not make landfall in the Philippines, but it enhanced the southwest monsoon.

PAGASA declared the start of the rainy season last June 8. – Rappler.com