Carina now a tropical storm, will enhance Habagat

Cyclone Carina has developed into a tropical storm, PAGASA said in its 5 p.m. bulletin on Saturday.

At 4 p.m., Carina was seen 630 kilometers east of Casiguran, Aurora, with maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h and gustiness of up to 80 km/h.

It was moving west northwestward at 15 km/h.

While no tropical cyclone wind signal has been raised, hoisting of Signal No. 1 over Extreme Northern Luzon and the eastern portion of Northern Luzon may be possible.

The Southwest Monsoon (Habagat), enhanced by Carina and former Tropical Depression Butchoy outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility, may cause moderate to heavy rains over the western portion of Luzon over the next three days and gusty conditions in the following areas:

• Saturday and Sunday: Kalayaan Islands
• Monday: CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Zambales, Bataan, and Metro Manila

Carina and the Southwest Monsoon may cause moderate seas along the eastern seaboard of the country.

Carina is forecast to intensify into a severe tropical storm by Monday and reach the typhoon category by Tuesday.

It is also predicted to gradually decelerate before accelerating over the Philippine Sea towards the Ryukyu archipelago in Japan by Tuesday.

“Carina will generally have a mainly offshore path over the next five days and remain far from the Philippine landmass,” the bulletin read.

Because of the Southwest Monsoon, cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may be observed in Negros Occidental, Antique, Palawan, Occidental Mindoro, Zambales, and Bataan, while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms may be experienced in Metro Manila, Mindanao, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, the rest of Visayas, and the rest of MIMAROPA.

The rest of Luzon will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds with moderate to rough waters will be experienced in the western section of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, while the rest of Luzon will have light to moderate winds with slight to moderate coastal waters.

Sunrise in Metro Manila will be at 5:36 a.m. on Sunday. — VBL, GMA Integrated News