Luis exits Phil

MANILA, Sept. 15 (PNA) --
Typhoon Luis is now over the west Philippine sea as it continues to
move away from the country, according to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical
and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on Monday.

In an interview, PAGASA
weather forecaster Buddy Javier said that as of 5 a.m. the eye of typhoon Luis
was located at 120 km northwest of Laoag City (18.5N, 119.5E) packed with
maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometer per hour (kph) and its gustiness of
150 kph. He added the typhoon
continues to move west northwest and accelerated its speed from 22 kph on
Sunday to 30 kph on Monday morning.

Maintaining its speed and
movement, the typhoon is expected to be out of Philippine Area of
Responsibility (PAR) before noon Monday towards the direction of Vietnam or
southern China.

Once Luis exits PAR, the
weather is expected to improve.

For this PAGASA has lowered
the public storm warning signal in some areas.

Javier said public storm
warning signal No. 3 (winds of 101-185 kilometers per hour (kph) is still
expected -- in at least 18 hours -- in Ilocos Norte.

Meanwhile, the areas placed
under public storm warning signal No. 2 (61-100 kph winds is expected in at
least 24 hours) are Cagayan including Babuyan and Calayan Group of Islands,
Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Mt. Province and Ilocos Sur.

Public storm warning signal
No. 1 (30-60 kph winds is expected in at least 36 hours), on the other hand, is
hoisted over Isabela, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, La Union, Pangasinan and
Batanes Group of Islands, northern Quezon and Pollilo Island.

PAGASA said residents in
low-lying and mountainous areas under signals #3 #2 andamp #1 are alerted
against possible flash floods and landslides. Likewise, those living in coastal
areas under signals #3 and #2 are alerted against storm surges of up to two
meters.

It added the estimated
rainfall amount is from 8–20 mm per hour (heavy to intense) within the 500 km
diameter of the typhoon.

The rest of Luzon will have
monsoon rains with moderate to strong southwesterly surface windflow due to the
southwest monsoon, he said.

Javier also said the state
weather bureau issued gale warning -- strong to gale force winds associated
with the surge of southwest monsoon enhanced by typhoon Luis is expected to
affect the seaboards of Luzon and western and central seaboards of Visayas.

The fishing boats and
other small sea crafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger
vessels are alerted against big waves, PAGASA warned.

Meanwhile, Javier said the
state weather bureau issued a orange rainfall warning in Metro Manila as well
as in some Luzon provinces as it expects heavy to intense rains.

The orange rainfall
advisory, the second in its three-stage rainfall warning system, is raised in
areas where rainfall is between 15 mm and 30 mm within one hour. Flooding is a
definite threat in communities under the orange alert.

Javier said the orange rainfall
warning issued at 4 a.m., as heavy to at times intense rains is expected to
affect Metro Manila, Batangas, Bataan, ?Cavite, Nueva Ecija, ?Tarlac and ?Zambales.

Meanwhile, yellow rainfall
warning is also expected in the provinces of Bulacan, ?Laguna, ?Pampanga and ?Rizal also at around 4 a.m. Monday.

Residents of the
above-mentioned areas are advised to take precautionary measures.

Under the heavy rainfall
warning system, a yellow rainfall advisory is raised when the expected rainfall
amount is between 7.5 mm and 15 mm within one hour and likely to continue.

Communities given this
advisory are advised to be aware of the weather condition and warned that
flooding may be possible in low-lying areas.

For Monday forecast, PAGASA
said the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ilocos
Sur and Cagayan including Babuyan and Calayan group of islands will experience
stormy weather with rough to very rough seas.

It added the provinces of
Isabela, Benguet, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, La Union and Batanes group
of islands will have rains with gusty winds while Metro Manila and the rest of
Luzon will experience monsoon rains which may trigger flash floodsand
landslides.

Visayas and Mindanao will be
partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rains howers or thunderstorms.(PNA)

JBP/CLTC