'Marce' brings rains over Luzon, Visayas

MANILA -- Tropical storm “Marce” (Gaemi) slightly gained strength Wednesday and it will bring rains over Luzon and the Visayas, the state weather bureau said.

Weather Forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said as of 4 a.m. Wednesday, tropical storm Marce was located 310 km west of Iba, Zambales (15.4°N, 116.7°E) with maximum winds of 75 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph. It is forecast to move southeast at 7 kph.

He said with its southeast direction, Marce has a small chance to make a landfall. However, if it makes a landfall, the tropical storm will hit Zambales or Bataan.

“Based on our models, we have two scenarios-- one if Marce will not make landfall, it will make a u-turn and exit towards Vietnam, or if it makes a landfall, it will affect Zambales or Bataan,” Aurelio explained.

He added that the southwest monsoon (Habagat) enhanced by the tropical storm will continue to bring moderate to heavy rains in Luzon including Metro Manila and the Visayas.

With its speed, Aurelio said that Marce is expected to exit the country by Friday or Saturday and no public storm warning signals has been raised.

Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said areas within its 400-km diameter radius are expected to experience rainfall of 10 to 25 mm per hour, which is classified as “moderate to intense”.

Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are advised not to venture out into the western seaboard of Luzon due to big waves generated by Marce.

In its advisory, Pagasa said Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon),Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the provinces of Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Isabela, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya will be cloudy with occasional moderate to heavy rains and thunderstorms.

The rest of Luzon, the Western and Central Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula will have occasional light to moderate rains or thunderstorms while the rest of the country will be partly cloudy with brief rainshowers or thunderstorms.

The weather agency added that moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast to east will prevail over extreme Northern Luzon, and coming from the southwest to south over Central Luzon.

Coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough.

Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest to west with slight to moderate seas.

Pagasa also said a strong to gale force wind is expected to affect the western seaboard of Luzon.

Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves. (PNA)