Storm Falcon leaves PHL; rain to continue

After dumping rains on Metro Manila and other parts of the country in past days, tropical storm “Falcon" (Meari) left Philippine territory early Saturday toward Japan. But the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned rains brought by the southwest monsoon will still fall over Metro Manila. “Nasa labas na ito [Falcon] ng Philippine area of responsibility, pero magdala pa rin kayo ng payong at panangga sa ulan," PAGASA forecaster Ben Oris said in an interview on dzBB radio Saturday. He also said Falcon intensified slightly and accelerated further as it continued to move away from Philippine territory. PAGASA also hinted there may be no cyclone expected in the next few days. "No tropical cyclone is expected to affect the [Philippine area of responsibility] in a week but a low-pressure area is expected," it said. PAGASA’s 5 a.m. advisory said that as of 4 a.m., Falcon was 590 km northeast of Basco, Batanes, with maximum sustained winds of 105 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 135 kph. It was moving north-northwest at 24 kph and was expected to be 680 km north-northeast of Basco, Batanes or at 320 km west-northwest of Okinawa, Japan. “[Falcon] will continue to enhance the Southwest Monsoon and bring occasional rains over Luzon particularly over the western sections of Northern and Central Luzon," PAGASA said. Also, it said strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the Western and of Visayas and the Eastern seaboards of Luzon and Visayas. “Fishing boats and other small sea crafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves," it said. Flash floods, landslides PAGASA’s 5 a.m. bulletin indicated possible flash floods in Northern and Central Luzon. “Northern and Central Luzon will experience monsoon rains which may trigger flashfloods and landslides while the Southern Tagalog Region will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms," it said. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be moderate to rough, it added. Meanwhile, the Binga Dam in Benguet province in the Cordillera Administrative Region kept one spillway gate open early Saturday to release excess water following heavy rains that Falcon brought. PAGASA said two other dams that opened earlier their spillways (Ipo and Ambuklao) had closed their gates already. In its 6 a.m. update, PAGASA said Binga kept one gate open at 0.3 meter. Binga opened two gates at one meter Friday. As of 6 a.m. Saturday, PAGASA said Binga's water level was at 565.47 meters, slightly below the 575-meter spilling level. On the other hand, Ambuklao Dam's water level was at 751.71 meters, slightly below the 752-meter spilling level. Ipo's water level as of 6 a.m. Saturday was at 100.51 meters, slightly below the 100.87-meter spilling level. — LBG, GMA News