Storm to spare country: Dante to veer away from Philippines

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu province and the rest of the country will continue to experience a hot weather, spared from coming of tropical storm Dante.

Philippine Atmosphe-ric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration-Cebu Weather Specialist Vhan Singson said the direction of the storm is expected to be interrupted by an external weather system, causing it to veer away from the country.

“Its track is expected to recurve. This is because of another weather system, that is, the tail end of a cold front,” she told The FREEMAN in a telephone interview yesterday.

“There will still be sunny days and warmer temperatures for the next five days based on our extended forecast, despite the presence of the weather disturbance,” she added.

On its 5 p.m. bulletin yesterday, PAGASA announced that Dante was spotted over 1,000 kilometers east of Virac town in Catanduanes province.

It has been categorized as tropical storm – the second level of the five classifications of a tropical cyclone (locally known as “bagyo”) based on intensity.

Dante is the fourth tropical cyclone to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility, which is an imaginary boundary enclosing the Philippine landmass.

Singson said Dante entered PAR yesterday morning over the east and is also expected to exit PAR on the same side of the boundary on Friday.

Singson said that as Dante heads towards the Philippine moving north to northwest, it is seen to interact with the tail end of a cold front and deviate towards the northeast direction and away from the country.

Its interaction with this weather system would also cause the weakening of Dante, which is expected to downgrade to a low pressure area or even dissipate.

Singson, though, cautioned that the people are still advised to keep on monitoring their latest advisories as significant changes in the atmospheric conditions may occur. (FREEMAN)