Severe Tropical Storm Tino (international name: Kalmaegi) may become a typhoon within the next 24 hours, the state weather bureau said Sunday.
Meanwhile, Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 has been raised in nine areas across Visayas and Mindanao. According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Tino was last located 805 kilometers east of Eastern Visayas, moving westward at 30 kilometers per hour (kph).
Based on its current track, Tino is likely to make initial landfall over Eastern Samar or the Dinagat Islands late Monday evening or early Tuesday morning, before moving toward Visayas and Northern Palawan and emerging over the West Philippine Sea by Wednesday morning or afternoon.
‘Tino is forecast to continuously intensify and may reach typhoon strength within the next 24 hours,’ Pagasa said in its latest bulletin.
‘It will likely make initial landfall at or near peak intensity, currently forecasted at 150 to 160 kph maximum winds with higher gusts,’ it added. Pagasa also warned that rapid intensification is possible within the next 48 hours and said that a super typhoon cannot be ruled out based on alternate scenarios and climatological data.
Tino is expected to weaken slightly as it crosses the Philippine landmass but is likely to remain a typhoon along its track.
Signal No. 1, where winds of 39 to 61 kph are expected within 36 hours with intermittent rains, has been raised in the following areas:
Visayas
Eastern Samar
Northern Samar
Samar
Biliran
Leyte
Southern Leyte
Camotes Islands