Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) continued to bring stormy weather conditions in the Kalayaan Islands Saturday evening, Dec. 18, even as the cyclone is already outside the country's area of responsibility, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in the 10 p.m. bulletin.
As of 9 p.m., the center of the eye of typhoon Odette was located 180 kilometers northwest of Pag-asa Island, Kalayaan, Palawan, or outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).
It was moving west-northwestward at 25 kilometers per hour (kph) while packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 230 kph.
Tropical cyclone wind signal number 2 remains hoisted over Kalayaan Islands due to the prevalence of damaging gale- to storm-force winds.
PAGASA said that heavy to torrential rains may still Kalayaan Islands until Sunday, Dec. 19.
"On the forecast track, typhoon Odette will track generally northwestward tomorrow (Dec. 19), then northward to north-northeastward on Monday (Dec. 20) over the sea areas east of central Vietnam and Hainan Island," it said.
"The typhoon will likely maintain its strength for the next 12 hours. Afterward, the eventual exposure of the typhoon to increasing vertical wind shear and the surge of the northeast monsoon will result in a weakening trend. Odette is forecast to be downgraded to severe tropical storm category by Monday," it added.