MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Storm Rosal (Pakhar) strengthened further before dawn on Monday, December 12, as it continued to move away from Philippine landmass.

Rosal’s maximum sustained winds increased from 65 kilometers per hour to 85 km/h, said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in a bulletin issued at 5 am on Monday. Its gustiness is now up to 105 km/h from the previous 80 km/h.

The tropical storm was located 770 kilometers east of Calayan, Cagayan, still moving northeast at 20 km/h. It is already too far to directly affect the Philippines.

Rosal did not make landfall as well, though it did bring heavy rain and strong winds to parts of the country over the weekend. Signal No. 1 was lifted on Saturday evening, December 10.

PAGASA said early Monday that Rosal is projected to move northeast until the afternoon before turning east for the rest of the day.

PAGASA added that Rosal could maintain its strength, but the weather bureau is not ruling out the possibility of it intensifying into a severe tropical storm on Monday.

By Tuesday, December 13, cold air from the surge of the northeast monsoon or hanging amihan – “increasingly unfavorable conditions” for Rosal – may cause it to rapidly weaken. The monsoon surge will also “greatly influence” Rosal’s movement, and it could shift south to southwest.

On Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning, December 14, Rosal is expected to become a remnant low before dissipating altogether.

In the meantime, the surge of the northeast monsoon, partly enhanced by Rosal, may continue to bring occasional gusts to these areas on Monday:

• Batanes
• Babuyan Islands
• northern and eastern parts of Cagayan
• eastern part of Isabela
• Ilocos Norte

Also due to the surge of the northeast monsoon, PAGASA issued another gale warning at 5 am on Monday, as rough to very rough seas persist in the following seaboards:

• seaboards of Northern Luzon (Batanes, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Isabela) – waves 2.8 to 5 meters high

The weather bureau advised fishing boats and other small vessels not to sail, and larger vessels to watch out for big waves.

The surge of the northeast monsoon and the tropical storm combined may also cause moderate to rough seas in these seaboards:

• seaboards of Central Luzon – waves 1.5 to 3.5 meters high
• eastern and western seaboards of Southern Luzon – waves 1.2 to 3 meters high

Travel may be risky for small vessels.

Rosal is the country’s 18th tropical cyclone for 2022 and the first for December. PAGASA earlier said there may be one or two tropical cyclones during the month. – Rappler.com