MANILA, Philippines – The low pressure area (LPA) east of extreme Northern Luzon developed into a tropical depression at 2 pm on Friday, July 29.

It is the Philippines’ fifth tropical cyclone for 2022 and was given the local name Ester.

In a briefing past 5 pm on Friday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Ester was last spotted 835 kilometers east of extreme Northern Luzon, moving west northwest at 15 kilometers per hour (km/h).

It has maximum sustained winds of 45 km/h and gustiness of up to 55 km/h, and is likely to remain a tropical depression in the next 36 hours.

Ester has no direct effect on the Philippines and it will not make landfall in any part of the country. There are no areas under tropical cyclone wind signals as well.

PAGASA said Ester is projected to move north northwest, further away from the country and toward Japan’s Ryukyu Islands.

It may already leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Saturday afternoon, July 30.

There will be light to heavy rain, however, from the southwest monsoon or hanging habagat. These areas will be affected for the rest of Friday until Saturday:

• Bicol
• Occidental Mindoro
• Oriental Mindoro
• Marinduque
• Romblon
• Batangas
• Quezon
• Eastern Samar
• Northern Samar
• Samar

PAGASA warned that flash floods and landslides are possible.

Ester and the southwest monsoon are also causing moderate to rough seas in the northern and eastern seaboards of the country. Waves are 1.3 to 2.8 meters high, making travel risky for small vessels.

PAGASA expects 9 to 13 tropical cyclones to enter or develop inside PAR from August 2022 to January 2023. Per month, these are the weather bureau’s estimates:

• August 2022 – 2 or 3
• September 2022 – 2 or 3
• October 2022 – 2 to 4
• November 2022 – 2 or 3
• December 2022 – 1 or 2
• January 2023 – 0 or 1

– Rappler.com