Tropical depression Egay may continue to strengthen and intensify into a super typhoon by Monday or Tuesday, July 24 or 25, as it remains offshore east of Luzon over the coming days, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) warned on Friday, July 21.

The weather disturbance developed from a low-pressure area into a tropical depression at 8 a.m. on Friday.

In its 11 a.m. bulletin, PAGASA said Egay has maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 70 kph.

It added that Egay may intensify into a tropical storm in the next 12 hours.

“Throughout its duration in the PAR (Philippine area of responsibility) region, it may continue to steadily intensify and reach super typhoon category by late Monday or early Tuesday as it moves over the Philippine Sea east of Luzon,” PAGASA said.

It will be upgraded into a super typhoon, once it reaches maximum sustained winds of over 185 kph.

(PAGASA)

Landfall not ruled out

Egay was last spotted 900 kilometers east of southeastern Luzon, and was moving north-northwestward slowly.

“Egay is forecast to move slowly in the next 24 hours and will track generally west-northwestward until late Sunday (July 23) before turning northwestward over the Philippine Sea east of Luzon for the remainder of forecast period,” PAGASA said.

It does not, however, rule out a possible landfall over extreme northern Luzon in the coming days.

“While the current track forecast shows that Egay will remain offshore over the waters east of Luzon, the forecast confidence cone shows that a landfall scenario over the eastern portion of mainland Cagayan and Batanes is not ruled out,” it added.

Brace for heavy rains, strong winds

Tropical depression Egay is expected to bring heavy rains to Catanduanes and Northern Samar as early as Sunday, according to PAGASA. 

Meanwhile, rains from the enhanced southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” may affect the western parts of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan, and Visayas starting on Sunday.

By Monday and Tuesday, monsoon rains may persist in the western sections of Southern Luzon and Western Visayas. 

“Under these conditions, flooding and rain-induced landslides are possible, especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards as identified in hazard maps and in localities that experienced considerable amounts of rainfall for the past several days,” PAGASA said.

Furthermore, in anticipation of strong winds caused by the tropical depression, PAGASA may issue tropical cyclone wind warnings in some areas of Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas on Saturday evening, July 22, or Sunday morning, July 23.

The enhanced habagat may also bring “strong breeze to near gale conditions with intermittent gusts” over Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan, Western Visayas, and western Mindanao by Saturday.