Bising (Surigae) strengthened from a severe tropical storm into a typhoon at 8 am on Friday, April 16, said the state weather bureau in its 11 am advisory.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Bising now has maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers (km/h) and gustiness of up to 160 km/h.

Before it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) at 6:20 am on Friday, Bising had maximum sustained winds of 110 km/h and gustiness of up to 135 km/h.

PAGASA said the typhoon is expected to “steadily intensify” over the next 3 days. (READ: FAST FACTS: Tropical cyclones, rainfall advisories)

As of Friday morning, Bising was located 960 kilometers east of Surigao City, Surigao del Norte. It is still too far to trigger severe weather in any part of the Philippines.

The typhoon is moving west northwest at 15 km/h, a direction it is expected to maintain until Monday, April 19. Then it would turn northeast, according to PAGASA, making landfall “less likely.”

Though it is unlikely that Bising would hit land, however, PAGASA warned that the typhoon may still bring winds and heavy rain to Eastern Visayas and Bicol beginning Sunday, April 18.

For now, there are no areas under tropical cyclone wind signals yet. But the state weather bureau said Signal No. 1 may be raised in parts of Northern Samar and Eastern Samar as early as Friday evening, to warn those areas that “strong breeze to near-gale conditions” are looming.

PAGASA added that Bising will cause rough to very rough seas in the eastern seaboards of the Visayas and Mindanao in the next 24 hours. Waves could be 2.8 to 4.5 meters high, so small vessels “are advised to take precautionary measures when venturing out to sea.”

The Department of Transportation suspended all land and sea travel for those bound for the Visayas and Mindanao via all Bicol ports, starting 12 pm on Friday.

Fishing vessels are included in the suspension. Trucking and logistics companies as well as buses were also told to postpone trips to avoid long queues from Sorsogon to Albay.

Image from PAGASA

Bising is the Philippines’ second tropical cyclone for 2021. The country usually gets an average of 20 tropical cyclones each year. (READ: LIST: PAGASA’s names for tropical cyclones in 2021)

For the next 6 months, PAGASA estimates the following number of tropical cyclones inside PAR:

• April – 0 or 1
• May – 0 or 1
• June – 1 or 2
• July – 1 to 3
• August – 2 or 3
• September – 2 or 3

– Rappler.com