Typhoon Ofel slightly slows down as it moves toward Babuyan Islands

Typhoon Ofel (Usagi) is still lashing parts of Northern Luzon with very strong winds and moderate to intense rain on Thursday evening, November 14

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Ofel (Usagi) continued to weaken and slowed down a bit as it moved toward Cagayan province’s Babuyan Islands early Thursday evening, November 14.

Ofel was already over the coastal waters of Santa Teresita, Cagayan, at 7 pm on Thursday. The typhoon is moving north northwest at 15 kilometers per hour from the previous 20 km/h.

Its maximum sustained winds further eased from 165 km/h to 155 km/h, while its gustiness is down from 275 km/h to 255 km/h.

At its peak, Ofel was a super typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h, reaching this category early Thursday morning. But hours later, it was downgraded to a typhoon, before it made its first landfall in Baggao, Cagayan, at 1:30 pm.

Ofel could pass close to Babuyan Islands or make its second landfall there on Thursday evening.

As of 8 pm on Thursday, these are the areas under tropical cyclone wind signals:

Signal No. 4

Typhoon-force winds (118 to 184 km/h), significant to severe threat to life and property

• Babuyan Islands
• northern and eastern parts of mainland Cagayan (Santa Teresita, Ballesteros, Aparri, Camalaniugan, Buguey, Lal-lo, Allacapan, Gattaran, Baggao, Gonzaga, Santa Ana, Abulug, Pamplona, Sanchez-Mira, Claveria, Santa Praxedes)

Signal No. 3

Storm-force winds (89 to 117 km/h), moderate to significant threat to life and property

• Batanes
• rest of Cagayan
• northern part of Isabela (San Pablo, Cabagan, Santa Maria, Santo Tomas, Maconacon)
• northern part of Apayao (Flora, Santa Marcela, Luna, Pudtol, Calanasan, Kabugao)
• northern part of Ilocos Norte (Pagudpud, Adams, Dumalneg)

Signal No. 2

Gale-force winds (62 to 88 km/h), minor to moderate threat to life and property

• western and eastern parts of Isabela (Quezon, Quirino, Mallig, San Manuel, Aurora, Cabatuan, Cauayan City, Benito Soliven, Naguilian, Gamu, Burgos, Reina Mercedes, Luna, Roxas, San Mariano, Palanan, Ilagan City, Divilacan, Dinapigue, Delfin Albano, Tumauini)
• rest of Apayao
• Kalinga
• northeastern part of Abra (Tineg, Lacub, Malibcong, Lagayan, San Juan, Lagangilang, Licuan-Baay, Daguioman)
• eastern part of Mountain Province (Paracelis)
• rest of Ilocos Norte

Signal No. 1

Strong winds (39 to 61 km/h), minimal to minor threat to life and property

• rest of Isabela
• northern part of Quirino (Cabarroguis, Diffun, Saguday, Maddela, Aglipay)
• northern part of Nueva Vizcaya (Solano, Bagabag, Diadi, Villaverde)
• rest of Mountain Province
• Ifugao
• rest of Abra
• northern part of Benguet (Mankayan, Bakun, Buguias)
• Ilocos Sur
• northern part of La Union (Sudipen, Bangar)
• northern portion of Aurora (Casiguran, Dinalungan, Dilasag)

There are no more provinces expected to have intense to torrential rain from Ofel in the next 24 hours, as the typhoon will continue to move away from mainland Luzon. But moderate to intense rain will persist in eight provinces.

Thursday evening, November 14, to Friday evening, November 15

• Heavy to intense rain (100-200 millimeters): Batanes, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Apayao
• Moderate to heavy rain (50-100 mm): Abra, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Isabela

Friday evening, November 15, to Saturday evening, November 16

• Moderate to heavy rain (50-100 mm): Batanes

In the next 48 hours, there is still a high risk of “life-threatening” storm surges “with peak heights exceeding 3 meters” in Batanes, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Isabela, and northern Aurora.

Meanwhile, PAGASA updated its outlook for sea conditions in the next 24 hours:

Up to very rough or high seas (travel is risky for all vessels)

• Seaboard of Cagayan including Babuyan Islands – waves up to 10 meters high
• Seaboard of Batanes; northern seaboard of Ilocos Norte – waves up to 7 meters high

Up to rough seas (small vessels should not venture out to sea)

• Seaboard of Isabela; northern seaboard of Aurora – waves up to 4 meters high
• Remaining seaboards of Aurora and Ilocos Norte; seaboard of northern mainland Quezon; northern and eastern seaboards of Polillo Islands – waves up to 3 meters high

Up to moderate seas (small vessels should take precautionary measures or avoid sailing, if possible)

• Seaboards of Camarines Norte and Ilocos Sur; northern seaboard of Camarines Sur; northern and eastern seaboards of Catanduanes – waves up to 2.5 meters high
• Eastern seaboard of mainland Quezon, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, and Eastern Samar; remaining seaboard of Catanduanes; northern and eastern seaboards of Northern Samar – waves up to 2 meters high

ALSO ON RAPPLER

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Ofel is the Philippines’ 15th tropical cyclone for 2024, and the third for November, after Marce (Yinxing) and Nika (Toraji), which both peaked as typhoons and pummeled Northern Luzon.

After possibly hitting Babuyan Islands, Ofel may turn north on Friday, November 15, over the sea west of Batanes, then northeast toward Taiwan during the weekend. Taiwan is within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

Ofel is likely to weaken further “due to frictional effects of land, as well as the increasingly unfavorable environment over the Luzon Strait and the sea east of Taiwan,” PAGASA said. It may just be a remnant low by Monday, November 18.

Aside from Ofel, PAGASA is monitoring Severe Tropical Storm Pepito (Man-yi), which entered PAR at 8 pm on Thursday. The weather bureau is expected to release its first Pepito bulletin at 11 pm. – Rappler.com