Tropical Storm Paolo (international name: Matmo) maintained its strength, prompting the weather bureau to place more provinces in Luzon under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 2.
In its 2 p.m. update, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) placed the following areas under TCWS:
TCWS No. 2
The central and southern portions of Isabela (San Mariano, Dinapigue, San Guillermo, Echague, Jones, San Agustin, Benito Soliven, Angadanan, Naguilian, Palanan, Ilagan City, Quirino, Mallig, Quezon, Delfin Albano, Tumauini, Cordon, City of Santiago, San Isidro, Ramon, Alicia, San Mateo, Cabatuan, City of Cauayan, Reina Mercedes, Luna, Gamu, Burgos, San Manuel, Aurora, Roxas)
The northern portion of Quirino (Maddela, Aglipay, Cabarroguis, Saguday, Diffun)
The northern portion of Nueva Vizcaya (Diadi, Bagabag, Quezon, Solano, Villaverde, Ambaguio, Bayombong, Kasibu)
The eastern portion of Mountain Province (Paracelis, Natonin, Barlig)
Ifugao
The northern portion of Aurora (Dilasag, Casiguran, Dinalungan)
Areas under Signal No. 2 are warned of gale-force winds within 24 hours.
TCWS No. 1
Cagayan
The rest of Isabela
The rest of Quirino
The rest of Nueva Vizcaya
Apayao
Abra
Kalinga
The rest of Mountain Province
Benguet
Ilocos Norte
Ilocos Sur
La Union
Pangasinan
The northern portion of Zambales (Palauig, Masinloc, Candelaria, Santa Cruz)
Tarlac
Nueva Ecija
The rest of Aurora
The northern portion of Bulacan (Doña Remedios Trinidad, San Miguel, San Ildefonso, Norzagaray, San Rafael)
The northern portion of Pampanga (Magalang, Arayat, Candaba, Mabalacat City)
The northern portion of Quezon (General Nakar, Infanta), including Polillo Islands
Camarines Norte
The northern portion of Camarines Sur (Siruma, Tinambac, Lagonoy, Garchitorena, Caramoan, Goa, San Jose, Presentacion)
Catanduanes
Areas under Signal No. 1 are expected to experience strong winds within the next 36 hours.
Meanwhile, during the 12 p.m. press conference, Pagasa said that Metro Manila will not be directly affected by Paolo.
‘Right now, the southwest monsoon, or habagat, has weakened. So the concentration of the heavy rains is now in those areas near the tropical storm,’ said weather services chief Engineer Juanito Galang during the conference.
But he added that it is still possible for Metro Manila and nearby provinces to experience light to moderate rainfall as Paolo crosses the country in the coming days.
The center of Paolo was last estimated 530 km east of Infanta, Quezon. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph), with gusts of up to 90 kph, and was moving westward at 20 kph.
It is the 16th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines in 2025. Nine more typhoons are expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility before the year ends.