PAGASA has lifted Signal No. 3 as Typhoon Marce continued to weaken and move further away on Friday noon, Nov. 8.
In its 11 a.m. bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Signal No. 2 was still raised over the northwestern portion of mainland Cagayan, Abra, Ilocos Norte, and the northern portion of Ilocos Sur.
Signal No. 1 was hoisted over Batanes, Babuyan Islands, the rest of mainland Cagayan, the northern and western portions of Isabela, the northern and western portions of Nueva Vizcaya, the northwestern portion of Quirino, the rest of Apayao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, the rest of Ilocos Sur, La Union, and the northern and central portions of Pangasinan.
PAGASA said “Marce” was less likely to bring significant rains to the country, but its trough, or extension, will “continue to bring scattered rains and thunderstorms over Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur in the next 24 hours.”
A storm surge alert is up over low-lying areas and coastal towns of Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La Union.
The tropical cyclone weakened after having multiple landfalls overnight, only packing on Friday noon maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 170 kph.
“Marce” made landfall over Santa Ana then moved across a bay to strike the town of Sanchez-Mira for a second landfall in Cagayan on Thursday night. Storms can have multiple landfalls if they change directions and go back and forth across the coast — in this case, the two towns dot the coastline of Cagayan.
It was last seen 100 km west-northwest of Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, moving west-southwestward at 20 kph to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Friday afternoon or evening.
Meanwhile, PAGASA spotted a new low-pressure area (LPA) east of the country, but still outside the weather disturbance monitoring zone.
In a briefing, PAGASA weather specialist Ana Clauren-Jorda said the LPA has a low chance of becoming a tropical depression within 24 hours.
Clauren-Jorda, however, said state meteorologists are not ruling out the possibility of its development into a tropical depression in the next few days as it traverses the ocean.
“In the coming days, kahit LPA o maging bagyo man ito, posible itong magdulot ng pag-ulan lalo na dito sa eastern section ng Luzon area,” Clauren-Jorda said.
