MANILA, Philippines – While maintaining its strength, Severe Tropical Storm “Verbena” is approaching the waters off Kalayaan Islands as it is set to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, the national weather agency said.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said in its 5 p.m. bulletin that Signal No. 1 remained up over Kalayaan Islands, Palawan.
Estimated at 230 kilometers northeast of Pag-asa Island, Kalayaan, the tropical cyclone is moving westward at 15 kilometers per hour (kph) while packing maximum sustained winds of 95kph near the center and gustiness of up to 115 kph, it said.
Based on its forecast track, it will move westward or west northwestward over the West Philippine Sea through Thursday afternoon and pass north of Kalayaan Islands.
Meanwhile, Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be experiencing partly cloudy to overcast skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms within 24 hours, the state-run weather bureau added.
Pagasa said Verbena was the 3rd storm to hit the country this month and 22nd this year.
