MANILA, Philippines - Typhoon "Vinta" intensified further as it hit land on Thursday afternoon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
PAGASA said Vinta made landfall over Santa Ana, Cagayan at 4:45 p.m. Its center was last spotted at 110 kilometers east southeast of Aparri, Cagayan.
Vinta was packing maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kilometers per hour.
Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected within the 500-kilometer diameter of the typhoon.
The weather bureau has placed the following areas under public storm warning signals:
Signal No. 3:
Cagayan
Calayan Group of Islands
Babuyan Group of Islands
Apayao
Ilocos Norte
Signal No. 2:
Batanes Group of Islands
Abra
Kalinga
Ilocos Sur
Mt. Province
Isabela
Signal No. 1:
La Union
Benguet
Ifugao
Nueva Vizcaya
Quirino
Aurora
Pangasinan
The agency warned these areas against possible flashfloods and landslides while their coastal areas were alerted against possible storm surges.
Sea travel also remains risky over the northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon.
In its Twitter account, PAGASA said moderate to heavy rains were affecting the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Apayao, Mt.Province, Calayan Group of Islands and Babuyan Group of Islands around 2 p.m.
At 4:20 p.m., light to moderate rains were also affecting Nueva Ecija and a portion of Tarlac.
PAGASA said Vinta is expected to move west northwest at 22 kilometers per hour and to be outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Friday afternoon.
Forecast for Nov. 1
In its 24-hour weather forecast issued at 5 p.m. PAGASA said the provinces of Ilocos, Isabela, Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Mt. Province, Batanes, Cagayan and the Babuyan and Calayan Group of islands will experience stormy weather with rough to very rough seas.
La union, Benguet, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora and Pangasinan will have rains and gusty winds with moderate to rough seas.
Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and Mindanao will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms while Visayas will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rains or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.