MANILA, Philippines – Queenie (Banyan) weakened from a tropical storm into a tropical depression at 8 am on Tuesday, November 1, while moving over the Philippine Sea.

Queenie’s maximum sustained winds decreased from 65 kilometers per hour to 45 km/h, said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in its 11 am bulletin on Tuesday.

The tropical depression’s gustiness went down to 55 km/h from 80 km/h.

PAGASA said Queenie will continue to weaken and may become a remnant low within 12 hours “due to unfavorable environment conditions.”

The tropical depression was located 490 kilometers east of Davao City or 425 kilometers east southeast of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, on Tuesday morning. It is slowly moving west.

The weather bureau expects Queenie to keep moving west over the Philippine Sea on Tuesday.

Though the tropical depression is weakening, its trough or extension is still bringing light to moderate rain, with at times heavy rain, to Caraga and Davao Oriental on Tuesday.

PAGASA advised Caraga and Davao Oriental to be on alert for possible floods and landslides.

Queenie is also causing moderate to rough seas in the eastern seaboard of Mindanao on Tuesday. Waves are 1.5 to 3 meters high, which may be risky for small vessels.

Tropical cyclone wind signals are now unlikely to be raised.

Queenie’s weakening is an even more welcome development as the Philippines is still reeling from the impact of Severe Tropical Storm Paeng (Nalgae), which left over 100 people dead after hitting the country in the last week of October.

Paeng and Queenie are the Philippines’ 16th and 17th tropical cyclones for 2022, respectively.

PAGASA expects 3 to 6 tropical cyclones to enter or develop inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility from November 2022 to April 2023. Per month, these are the weather bureau’s estimates:

• 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
• April 2023 – 0 or 1

– Rappler.com