Nika exits Philippine area of responsibility

The center of Tropical Storm Nika (international name: Toraji) has gotten out of the Philippine area of responsibility on Tuesday afternoon, state weather bureau PAGASA said. 

In a tropical cyclone update, PAGASA said that Nika exited the PAR at 2 p.m.

According to the state weather bureau’s 5 p.m. bulletin, Nika was last spotted 365 kilometers west of Calayan, Cagayan. 

It had maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 105 kph. Nika was moving westward at 15 kph, PAGASA added.  

PAGASA also said that the tropical storm no longer poses any threat of storm surge in the coastal areas of the country. 

“Due to increasingly unfavorable environment, Nika is forecast to weaken into a tropical depression on Thursday evening or Friday early morning and degenerate into a remnant low on Friday afternoon or evening,” state metereologists said. 

Further, no additional tropical cyclone wind signals were raised over any areas. 

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 1 was earlier raised over the following areas in Luzon due to Nika.

• The northern portion of Ilocos Norte (Sarrat, Piddig, Bangui, Vintar, Burgos, Pagudpud, Bacarra, Adams, Pasuquin, Carasi, San Nicolas, Dumalneg, Laoag City),
• the northern portion of Apayao (Luna, Calanasan),
• the northwestern portion of Cagayan (Abulug, Pamplona, Sanchez-Mira, Santa Praxedes, Claveria),
• and the northwestern portion of Babuyan Islands (Calayan Is., Dalupiri Is., Fuga Is.)

Earlier in the day, PAGASA said the tropical storm monitored east of Eastern Visayas has entered the PAR, and was assigned the domestic name Ofel (international name: Usagi).

It slightly intensified on late Tuesday morning as it moved northwestward over the Philippine Sea. —with reports from Vince Angelo Ferreras/AOL/RF, GMA Integrated News