FACT CHECK: No super typhoon expected in PH up until December 21

Claim: A Signal No. 4 super typhoon is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), according to a December 21 weather update. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video was posted on December 21 by Balitang Pinas, a verified YouTube channel with 612,000 subscribers. As of writing, the video has 25,451 views and 646 likes.

The video’s thumbnail bears the claim: “Hagupit ng bagyo. Huling bagyong papasok, super typhoon! Signal No. 4.” (Rage of the storm. Last tropical cyclone to enter is a super typhoon! Signal No. 4.)

The video’s title also claimed that the incoming tropical cyclone would be the strongest typhoon to enter the PAR this year.

The facts: According to the latest public weather forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issued on Thursday, December 21, no active tropical cyclone is being monitored within and outside the PAR.

In its 4 am weather update, PAGASA weather specialist Daniel James Villamil said that the trough of the low pressure area (LPA) that exited the PAR on December 20 continues to affect Kalayaan Islands in Palawan. 

Aside from the trough of the LPA, the shear line brings cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms to eastern parts of Luzon such as Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, and Quezon.

Due to the northeast monsoon, cloudy skies with rain are expected in the Cordillera Administrative Region, the rest of Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur. 

Metro Manila and the rest of the country are expected to experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms due to the easterlies and localized thunderstorms. 

The Philippines’ most recent tropical cyclone was Kabayan (Jelawat), which weakened into an LPA on December 18, and its most recent super typhoon was Goring (Saola), which hit the country in August. The next tropical cyclone is set to be named Liwayway. 

Outdated report: The misleading video used the audio of an outdated PAGASA weather report posted on December 20. The said report, however, did not mention any tropical cyclone, let alone a super typhoon, that is being monitored outside PAR. Instead, it reported about the LPA that had exited the country at 2 pm that day. 

Previous fact checks: The YouTube channel that posted the misleading video is verified, but this only means that it is the “official channel of a creator, artist, company, or public figure.” YouTube’s guidelines do not mention checking the authenticity of a channel’s content.

Rappler has debunked several weather-related claims from the same channel

• FACT CHECK: No super typhoon Liwayway in PH area of responsibility up until December 19
• FACT CHECK: No new super typhoon to make ‘sure landfall’ in PH up until this week
• FACT CHECK: No super typhoon in PH up until October 24
• FACT CHECK: Signal No. 2 is the highest wind signal for Typhoon Jenny as of 5 pm, October 3
• FACT CHECK: Lumabas na ang bagyong Ineng noong Setyembre 6 
• FACT CHECK: Di totoong may 2 bagyong tatama sa Pilipinas ngayong Setyembre 11
• FACT CHECK: Hindi super typhoon ang bagyong Hanna, walang Signal No. 5
  

Official news: For official weather updates, refer to PAGASA’s official website, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and YouTube accounts. Get updates too via Rappler’s Philippine weather page. – Ailla dela Cruz/ Rappler.com

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