TROPICAL Storm “Chedeng” has remained far from the Philippine landmass and has maintained its strength as it moved northward over the Philippine Sea, said the state weather bureau Wednesday, June 7, 2023.
The center of the storm was located at 1,190 kilometers east of southeastern Luzon, packing maximum winds of 75 kilometers per hour (km/h), gusts of up to 90 km/h, and central pressure of 998 hPa as of 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that Chedeng was moving northward at 10 km/h.
No tropical cyclone wind signal has been hoisted as of Wednesday, as Pagasa noted that Chedeng is unlikely to directly bring heavy rainfall over any portion of the country in the next three to five days.
It added though that Chedeng may enhance the Southwest Monsoon (habagat), but the timing and intensity of monsoon rains over the country (especially in the western portion) may still change due to the dependence of monsoon enhancement on the forecast movement and intensity of the storm, as well as its interaction with the other weather systems surrounding it.
It also said that Chedeng remained unlikely to cause rough sea condition over the coastal waters of the country in the next 24 hours.
It was forecast to move generally northwestward or west northwestward Wednesday until Friday, before turning more northward or north northeastward over the weekend.
“Owing to favorable environmental conditions, Chedeng is forecast to intensify in the next three to four days and may be upgraded to severe tropical storm category tonight or tomorrow and into a typhoon on Thursday. Rapid intensification is not ruled out. Peak intensity may be reached by Friday or Saturday,” said Pagasa. (LMY)