Tropical Storm Ofel further weakens northwest of Batanes

MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Storm Ofel (Usagi) continued to weaken in the early hours of Saturday, November 16, following its reentry into the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

Ofel’s maximum sustained winds are down to 75 kilometers per hour from the previous 85 km/h. Its gustiness also eased to up to 90 km/h from 105 km/h.

The tropical storm was located 240 kilometers northwest of Itbayat, Batanes, as of 4 am on Saturday. It is over the sea west of Taiwan, which is within PAR, and slowly moving north northeast.

Ofel had reentered PAR at 10 pm on Friday, November 15, just several hours after exiting. But it is no longer causing significant rain and tropical cyclone wind signals were all gradually lifted on Friday.

In a bulletin issued at 5 am on Saturday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Ofel will cross the southern part of Taiwan within the day, then emerge over the sea east of Taiwan by early Sunday morning, November 17.

The tropical storm is expected to further weaken “due to the increasingly unfavorable environment and interaction with the mountainous terrain of Taiwan,” PAGASA added.

Ofel may be downgraded to a remnant low on Sunday or earlier.

At its peak, Ofel was a super typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h, reaching this category early Thursday morning, November 14. But hours later, it was downgraded to a typhoon, before it made landfall in Baggao, Cagayan, at 1:30 pm that day.

During the height of Ofel’s onslaught, rain in Northern Luzon had reached torrential levels and the highest tropical cyclone wind signal raised was Signal No. 5.

Meanwhile, for sea conditions in the next 24 hours, moderate to rough seas will persist in certain seaboards.

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

• Seaboard of Batanes – waves up to 3 meters high

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

• Seaboard of Babuyan Islands – waves up to 2.5 meters high
• Northern seaboards of mainland Cagayan and Ilocos Norte – waves up to 2 meters high

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.

Aside from Ofel, PAGASA is monitoring Typhoon Pepito (Man-yi). – Rappler.com