ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PAGASA weather radar among 'Rolly' casualties in Catanduanes

PAGASA weather radar among 'Rolly' casualties in Catanduanes

Published Nov 3, 2020 04:28 pm

Super typhoon Rolly’s vicious winds destroyed the country’s Doppler radar located in Bato, Catanduanes when it first made landfall there on Nov. 1.

(Photo from PAGASA / MANILA BULLETIN)

Dr. Landrico Dalida Jr., Deputy Administrator for Operations and Services of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the radome or dome that protected the Virac Doppler radar antenna and equipment was blown off by Rolly’s more than 200-kilometer per hour (kph) winds.

Rolly carried maximum sustained winds of 235 kph and gusts of up to 265 kph when it hit Catanduanes in the early morning of Nov. 1.

The strong winds of the super typhoon was just too much for the radar that was supposed to withstand up to 250 kph of winds, Dalida said in a phone interview.

“The dome is a protective covering of radar equipment, antenna, and wiring that gives off signal for information. Without the dome, water can penetrate the radar’s other component, equipment, and wires,” he said in Filipno. “We are hoping it was not totally damaged.” 

This week, Dalida said a technical team is scheduled to visit the PAGASA station in Catanduanes where the Doppler radar is to assess Rolly’s damage to the radar.

“This is very helpful, especially for Region 5 (Bicol) because most tropical cyclones make their first landfall there,” he said.

“The radar sent off accurate information as to where Rolly would make landfall. As it has a 500-km scope, we were able to see the typhoon clearly even if it was still 250-km away,” he added.

Dalida said the Daet Doppler radar in Camarines Norte was not damaged by the passing of Rolly and can help provide crucial weather data should another cyclone develop close to the region.

The infrastructure is part of the P1.7 billion Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) grant to PAGASA, which includes two more Doppler radars in Aparri, Cagayan, and Guiuan, Eastern Samar. It was inaugurated in 2012.

The one in Guiuan, Eastern Samar was also heavily damaged during the onslaught of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013.

The utilization of the Doppler radars help in the mitigation of the destruction caused by tropical cyclones and other severe weather occurrences. 

The equipment will enable PAGASA to conduct more extensive weather monitoring, such as detecting the direction of rainfall motion. 

It also allows PAGASA to issue more up-to-date tropical cyclone information and accurate flood forecasts and warnings. 

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.