Typhoon "Bising" (international name "Surigae") maintained its strength while moving slowly over the Philippine Sea on Monday, April 19, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in its latest severe weather bulletin.
In its 11 a.m. bulletin, PAGASA said Bising remains a strong typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 240 kph.
Moving slowly north-northwest, the center of the eye of typhoon Bising was located at 235 kilometers (km) east-northeast of Virac, Catanduanes or 360 km east of Daet, Camarines Norte at around 10 a.m.
READ: Tropical Cyclone Bising Tracker
While it is not expected to hit land, the outer rain bands of Bising may continue to bring moderate to heavy with at times intense rains over Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Masbate, Northern Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran and the northern portion of Leyte Monday.
By Tuesday, April 20, moderate to heavy rains will persist over Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Masbate, and Northern Samar.
Light to moderate with at times heavy rains may also prevail over the northern portion of Aurora and eastern portions of mainland Cagayan and Isabela by Tuesday.
"Under these conditions and considering the antecedent rainfall over the aforementioned areas, flooding, including flash floods, and rain-induced landslides are increasingly likely to occur especially in areas identified in hazard maps as highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards," PAGASA warned.
As of 11 a.m., Signal No. 2 remains hoisted over Catanduanes, eastern portion of Camarines Sur, eastern portion of Albay, eastern and central portions of Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, and Biliran.
More areas were placed under Signal No. 1. These were the southeastern portion of Cagayan, eastern portion of Isabela, northeastern portion of Quirino, northern portion of Aurora, eastern portion of Quezon including Polillo Islands, Camarines Norte, the rest of Camarines Sur, the rest of Albay, the rest of Sorsogon, Masbate including Burias and Ticao Islands, Leyte, Southern Leyte, northern portion of Cebu including Bantayan and Camotes Islands, Dinagat Islands, Siargao Islands, and Bucas Grande Islands.
In the next 24 hours, PAGASA said the northeasterly wind flow enhanced by the typhoon will also bring strong breeze to near-gale conditions with higher gusts over most parts of Northern Luzon, Aurora, and the rest of Quezon that are not under any tropical cyclone wind signal.
PAGASA said such conditions are more likely to occur in the coastal and mountainous areas.
Bising may also trigger "very rough to very high seas" over the eastern seaboard of Luzon with wave heights up to 5.0-12.0 meters (m), and "rough to very high seas" over the northern and eastern seaboards of Eastern Visayas (2.5-7.0 m).
Rough to very rough seas may also prevail over the northern and western seaboards of Northern Luzon (2.5-5.0 m) and the eastern seaboard of Caraga (2.5-4.5 m), and rough seas over the remaining seaboards of localities where wind signals are in effect and eastern seaboard of Davao Oriental (2.5-4.0 m).
"Sea travel is risky for all types of seacrafts over these waters," PAGASA said.
Projected track and intensity
Typhoon Bising is expected to continue to move generally north or north-northwest until Wednesday evening, April 21 or Thursday morning, April 22, PAGASA said.
Afterward, the typhoon will move northeast or east-northeast away from Luzon landmass, it added.
PAGASA said the typhoon would gradually weaken throughout the remainder of the forecast period.
Bising will likely be at 485 km east of Baler, Aurora by Tuesday morning; 400 km east of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan by Wednesday morning; 415 km east of Calayan, Cagayan by Thursday morning; 650 km east of Itbayat, Batanes by Friday morning; and 1,195 km east-northeast of extreme Northern Luzon by Saturday morning, April 24.