'Ofel' exits to Vietnam

MANILA -- Tropical Storm "Ofel" continues to move across the West Philippine Sea and is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) Friday, all public storm warning the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

Pagasa weather forecaster Buddy Javier said all public storm warning signals, which remained hoisted over certain areas of Luzon as of Thursday night, had been lifted as the storm began moving toward Vietnam.

Javier said as of 4 a.m. Friday, the center of Ofel was located at 320 west of Iba, Zambales (15.0.0°N, 116.7°E) with maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph. It is forecast to move west-northwest at 22 kph.

In its advisory, Pagasa said that Northern and Central Luzon will experience cloudy skies with moderate to heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides, while Southern Luzon will be cloudy with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms.

The rest of the country will be partly cloudy with brief rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the east to southeast will prevail over Luzon and the Visayas and coming from the east to northeast over Mindanao.

The coastal waters throughout the archipelago will be moderate to rough.

Pagasa advised the owners of fishing boats and other small seacraft not to venture out into the seaboards of Northern and Central Luzon due to the surge of the northeast monsoon.

Meanwhile, Pagasa also terminated all rainfall advisories in Metro Manila as only occasional light rains were observed for the past three hours. (PNA)