Typhoon "Bising" (international name "Surigae") further weakened while moving north slowly over the Philippine Sea on Tuesday, April 20, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in its severe weaher bulletin isued at 5 a.m.
While weaker, Bising remained a strong cyclone packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 215 kph.
It has barely moved over the last six hours and as of 4 a.m., the center of the eye of the typhoon was located at 505 kilometers (km) east of Infanta, Quezon.
PAGASA said heavy to intense rainfall may persist over Catanduanes, while moderate to heavy rains may affect the eastern portion of Camarines Sur and Rapu-Rapu Islands.
"Under these conditions and considering the antecedent rainfall over the aforementioned areas, flooding including flash floods and rain-induced landslides are highly likely to occur especially in areas identified in hazard maps as highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards," it warned.
Tropical cyclone wind signals still up
Catanduanes, eastern portion of Camarines Sur, and northeastern portion of Albay were still under Signal No. 2.
Meanwhile, Signal No. 1 was hoisted over Batanes, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Isabela, Quirino, Apayao, eastern portion of Kalinga, extreme eastern portion of Mountain Province, extreme eastern portion of Ifugao, northern portion of Aurora, eastern portion of Quezon including Polillo Islands, Camarines Norte, rest of Camarines Sur, rest of Albay, Sorsogon, northern portion of Masbate including Burias and Ticao Islands, Northern Samar, northern portion of Samar, and northern portion of Eastern Samar.
"Considering the uncertainty in the projected path of the typhoon over the next 48 hours, the possibility of hoisting tropical cyclone wind Signal No. 2 over some areas in the eastern portion of Cagayan and Isabela is not ruled out at this time," PAGASA said.
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 the rest of Northern Luzon, and the rest of 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 high seas over the northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon with wave heights up to 4.5-10.0 meters (m) and rough to high seas over the northern and eastern seaboards of Eastern Visayas (3.0-7.0 m).
Rough to very rough seas may also prevail over the northern and western seaboards of Northern Luzon (2.8 to 4.5 m), and rough seas over the eastern seaboards of Caraga and Davao Oriental and the remaining seaboards of areas with storm signals.
"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 begin to move northeast away from the country by Thursday, then move east-northeast by Friday, April 23 until Saturday, April 24, and exit the Philippine area of responsibility by Sunday, April 25,
PAGASA said Bising will gradually weaken throughout the forecast period and may be downgraded into a severe tropical storm between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
Bising will likely be at 375 km east of Casiguran, Aurora by Wednesday morning; 305 km east of Aparri, Cagayan by Thursday morning; 380 km east of Basco, Batanes by Friday morning; 855 km east-northeast of extreme Northern Luzon by Saturday morning; and 1,410 km east-northeast of extreme northern Luzon by Sunday morning.