Tropical Storm “Leon” (international name: Kong-Rey) maintained its strength as it moved westward over the Philippine sea, the state weather bureau said on Sunday.
PAGASA, in an 11 am weather advisory, stated that “Leon” is unlikely to directly affect the weather conditions in the country but its outer rainbands may affect extreme Northern Luzon depending on its recurvature.
“It may also continue to influence the Southwesterly windflow initially triggered by Severe Tropical Storm Trami (formerly “Kristine”), which may affect the western section of Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in the coming days,” it warned.
Currently, no Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) has been raised but depending on how much the forecast track will shift westward, the highest TCWS during “Leon” is TCWS No. 2.
Meanwhile, TCWS No. 1 may be hoisted over portions of Cagayan Valley and the northeastern portion of Bicol Region by Sunday evening.
PAGASA said that “Leon” is moving westward at 20 kilometers per hour with maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour near the center and packing gusts of up to 80 kilometers per hour.
Its center was last estimated at 1,195 km east of Central Luzon.
The weather disturbance is forecast to move westward until Monday early morning to Tuesday early morning before turning northwestward to north northwestward for the rest of the forecast period, making landfall over Ryukyu Islands on Okinawa, Japan.
“This tropical cyclone is expected to gradually intensify in the next 24 hours and may reach severe tropical storm category by tomorrow early morning,” PAGASA noted.
From Monday until Wednesday, Tropical Storm “Leon” may enter a period of rapid intensification, and may reach typhoon category on Monday evening or Tuesday early morning.
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