A tropical storm with international name "Surigae" may enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) by Friday, April 16, and will be given a local name "Bising."
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) estimated the location of Surigae at 1,205 kilometers (km) east of Mindanao, or still outside the PAR, as of 10 a.m.
PAGASA weather specialist Ariel Rojas said Surigae has slightly intensified with maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph.
He said it may intensify further into a severe tropical storm, as the tropical cyclone is currently almost stationary over the sea.
Surigae may enter the PAR by Friday as a typhoon, Rojas pointed out.
The weather disturbance is less likely to affect the country over the next three days but the public, as well as the concerned disaster risk reduction and management offices situated in the eastern portions of Southern Luzon and Visayas, were advised to continuously monitor developments regarding the tropical cyclone.
"Considering the uncertainty in the track forecast of this storm, a westward shift in the current forecast track may result in potentially significant impacts over the aforementioned areas over the weekend, from April 17 to 18, and onto Monday, April 19," PAGASA said in its weather advisory.
Rojas said Catanduanes and the northeast part of Samar are within Surigae's cone of probability by April 19, Monday, which means there is a chance that the outer circulation of the storm may directly affect these areas.
However, Rojas said the center of the storm has a slim chance of hitting or passing through the country's landmass.
Due to the possible effect of the outer circulation of the storm, PAGASA may raise tropical cyclone wind signal number 1 or 2 over Bicol region and Eastern Visayas in the coming days, he added.
"Malaking bahagi ng bansa spared sa destructive effects ng bagyo pero yung peripheral effects pwede magdala ng pabugso bugsong ulan at hangin. (A large portion of the country will be spared from the destructive effects of the cyclone but the peripheral effects can bring scattered rains and gusts)," Rojas said.
The international name "Surigae" was contributed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), which is a kind of eagle.