MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Julian (Krathon) reentered the Philippine Area of Responsibility at 8 am on Thursday, October 3, two days after it first left PAR.
As of 10 am on Thursday, Julian was located 245 kilometers northwest of Itbayat, Batanes, slowly moving east northeast toward Taiwan, which is within PAR.
The typhoon’s maximum sustained winds are already down to 120 kilometers per hour, with gustiness of up to 165 km/h. At its peak as a super typhoon, Julian had maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h.
Julian first exited PAR at 9 am on Tuesday, October 1, but it stayed right outside the PAR boundary.
The tropical cyclone brought moderate to torrential rain to Northern Luzon and parts of Central Luzon at the height of its onslaught during the last days of September.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier said Julian’s trough or extension may still cause scattered rain and thunderstorms in Northern Luzon and Central Luzon on Thursday, but the weather is generally much better.
As of 11 am on Thursday, only the municipality of Itbayat remains under Signal No. 1, which means strong winds are still being felt.
The highest tropical cyclone wind signal raised due to Julian was Signal No. 4 in Batanes and part of Babuyan Islands. While Julian did not make landfall, it had passed very close to these areas.
Batanes and Ilocos Norte are both under a state of calamity after Julian left a trail of destruction.
PAGASA also said in its 11 am bulletin that Julian is expected to make landfall in the southwestern part of Taiwan on Thursday afternoon.
After making landfall, it may “move erratically over Taiwan while rapidly weakening due to land interaction.” By Friday, October 4, Julian may just be a remnant low.
Even before hitting Taiwan’s mountainous terrain, Julian has been weakening due to the “incoming northeasterly wind flow over the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait” as well as the “lower ocean heat content in its vicinity, which is related to upwelling of cooler waters caused by its slow movement for nearly three days.”
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For coastal waters, very rough seas will persist in the seaboard of Batanes (waves up to 4.5 meters high). Travel is risky for most types of vessels.
Moderate to rough seas are expected in the seaboards of Babuyan Islands and Ilocos Norte (waves up to 4 meters high), the remaining seaboards of the Ilocos Region (waves up to 3.5 meters high), the seaboard of Zambales (waves up to 3 meters high), and the northern seaboard of mainland Cagayan, the western seaboard of Lubang Island, the western seaboard of Calamian Islands, and the seaboard of Kalayaan Islands (waves up to 2.5 meters high). Small vessels should not venture out to sea.
Julian is the Philippines’ 10th tropical cyclone for 2024 and sixth tropical cyclone for September alone. – Rappler.com