Typhoon Hanna strengthens further, continues to enhance southwest monsoon

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Hanna (Haikui) continued to strengthen and gain speed on Saturday afternoon, September 2, while the enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat dumped more rain in the western part of Luzon.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in its 5 pm bulletin on Saturday that Hanna now has maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour from the previous 130 km/h.

The typhoon’s gustiness is now up to 170 km/h from the previous 160 km/h.

It was last spotted 375 kilometers east northeast of Itbayat, Batanes, moving west northwest at 20 km/h from 15 km/h.

PAGASA does not expect Hanna to make landfall in the Philippines, but it will bring moderate to heavy rain to Batanes. The province also remains under Signal No. 1 due to the threat of strong winds.

Hanna will be making landfall along the eastern coast of southern Taiwan, possibly on Sunday afternoon or evening, September 3. Taiwan is within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

“Considerable weakening is expected as a result of Hanna crossing the rugged landmass of Taiwan,” PAGASA said.

Afterwards, Hanna may exit PAR and emerge over the Taiwan Strait on Monday morning, September 4.

Outside PAR, it could “move erratically and may even become slow-moving or almost stationary over the Taiwan Strait while continuously weakening due to land interaction and [an] increasingly unfavorable environment.”

Hanna could eventually just be a tropical depression by Wednesday, September 6, or Thursday, September 7.

Hanna is also still enhancing the southwest monsoon, which is affecting the following regions and provinces:

Saturday, September 2

100-200 millimeters (mm): Ilocos Region, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro
50-100 mm: Metro Manila, Abra, Benguet, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas

Sunday, September 3

100-200 mm: Ilocos Region, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro
50-100 mm: Metro Manila, Abra, Benguet, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas

Monday, September 4

100-200 mm: Zambales, Bataan
50-100 mm: Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Abra, Benguet, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, northern part of Palawan including Cuyo and Calamian islands, Antique

PAGASA advised affected areas to stay on alert for floods and landslides.

Gusty conditions will also persist in these areas due to the enhanced southwest monsoon:

Saturday, September 2, to Sunday, September 3

Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Nueva Vizcaya, Zambales, Pampanga, Bataan, Aurora, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, northern part of Eastern Visayas

Monday, September 4

Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Nueva Vizcaya, Zambales, Pampanga, Bataan, Aurora, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Calabarzon, most of Mimaropa, most of Bicol, most of Western Visayas

ALSO ON RAPPLER

Meanwhile, PAGASA issued another gale warning at 5 pm on Saturday, still due to Hanna and the enhanced southwest monsoon. The following seaboards are covered by the gale warning:

western seaboard of Luzon (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Island) – rough to very rough waters, waves 2.8 to 4.5 meters high
northern seaboard of Northern Luzon and western seaboard of Southern Luzon (Batanes, northern coast of Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Metro Manila, Cavite, Batangas) – rough to very rough waters, waves 2.8 to 4.5 meters high
eastern and southern seaboards of Luzon (eastern coast of Cagayan, Isabela, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, northern part of Palawan including Calamian, Cuyo, and Kalayaan Islands) – rough to very rough waters, waves 2.8 to 4.5 meters high
western seaboard of Visayas (Antique, Aklan) – rough to very rough waters, waves 2.8 to 4.5 meters high
eastern seaboard of Central Luzon and Southern Luzon (Aurora, northern Quezon) – rough waters, waves 2.8 to 4 meters high

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

Hanna is the Philippines’ eighth tropical cyclone for 2023.

For the next 6 months, PAGASA estimated that 6 to 9 tropical cyclones may form within or enter PAR:

September 2023 – 2 or 3
October 2023 – 2 or 3
November 2023 – 1 or 2
December 2023 – 1 or 2
January 2024 – 0 or 1
February 2024 – 0 or 1

– Rappler.com

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Acor Arceo

Acor Arceo is the head of copy and editorial standards at Rappler. Trained in both online and TV newsrooms, Acor ensures consistency in editorial standards across all sections and also supervises Rappler’s coverage of disasters.