Severe Tropical Storm Aghon Makes Multiple Landfalls in the Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — Severe tropical storm Aghon (international name: Ewiniar) made another landfall over Patnanungan Island, Quezon, on Sunday night, the state weather bureau said.
Prior to this, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) reported eight landfalls in various parts of the country over the weekend.
Aghon landed first in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, at around 11:20 p.m. on Friday (May 24) and landed over Lucena City on Sunday (May 26), 4:30 a.m.
According to its 8 p.m. bulletin, the state weather bureau said Aghon was last spotted in the area traversing in a northeastward direction slowly.
The severe tropical storm was carrying maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 150 kph.
Despite its increase in strength, Pagasa reported that it lifted Signal No. 3 in some Quezon areas, but it remained hoisted in the Polillo Islands.
On the other hand, wind signals are still raised in the following areas in Luzon:
Signal No. 2:
– Aurora
– Northern and central portions of Quezon
– Laguna
– Eastern portion of Batangas
– Eastern portion of Rizal
– Northern portion of Camarines Norte
Signal No. 1:
– Eastern portion of Isabela
– Eastern portion of Quirino
– Eastern portion of Nueva Vizcaya
– Eastern portion of Nueva Ecija
– Eastern portion of Pampanga
– Southeastern portion of Bataan
– Bulacan
– Metro Manila
– Rest of Rizal
– Cavite
– Rest of Batangas
– Rest of Quezon
– Northeastern portion of Oriental Mindoro
– Marinduque
– Rest of Camarines Norte
– Northern portion of Camarines Sur
Aside from the wind signals, a gale warning is also raised over the northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon and the seaboard of Bicol Region.
The forecast further said that Aghon “will continue to move northeastward towards the Philippine Sea. The possibility of intensifying into a typhoon over the next 12 hours is not ruled out.”
“Aghon will gradually accelerate northeastward while intensifying. It is forecast to reach typhoon category by tomorrow afternoon and may exit the PAR region on Wednesday,” it added.
