Typhoon Ruby weakens after making landfall at Dolores, Eastern Samar at 9:15 PM Saturday. It is expected to bring strong winds and heavy to torrential rainfall with a possible 3-meter storm surge over the vicinity of Masbate this morning.

PAGASA weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar says in an interview this morning at Panahon TV, the typhoon is expected to be in Romblon tonight, moving towards Mindoro province by tomorrow.

Currently northwest of Catbalogan City in the province of Samar, Ruby packs winds of 160 kph with gustiness of up to 195 kph. The typhoon continues to move west northwest at 15 kph.

The typhoon weakens as it gets less moisture to sustain its strength inland,Escullar explains.

If it maintains current speed and direction, Ruby is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Wednesday morning.

In PAGASA’s latest weather bulletin, Public Storm Warning Signals are raised over the following areas:

Residents living along coastlines are advised on possible storm surges, which may reach up to 2 to 3 meters in areas under storm warning signals #2 and #3.

Typhoon Ruby and the northeast monsoon will also bring rough to very rough sea conditions over the seaboards of Luzon, Visayas and the northern seaboards of Mindanao.

Sea travel is dangerous due to big waves that may reach up to 5 meters, and strong to gale force winds generated by the mentioned weather systems.

In the following hours, stormy weather will be experienced over the provinces under storm signals 2 and 3, particularly in Visayas, Bicol Region, Calabarzon and the provinces of Romblon, Mindoro and Marinduque.

Ruby, with international name Hagupit, has made its 1st landfall over Dolores, Eastern Samar at 9:15PM, Saturday. At 11:00PM, the eye of the typhoon was estimated at 125 kilometers east southeast of Catarman, Northern Samar. Packing winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 210 kilometers per hour, it changed direction now moving west northwest at 15 kilometers per hour.

Public Storm Warning Signals are still up over some areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Potential Impacts of Winds

Signal #3
• Residents in low lying and mountainous areas are alerted against flashfloods and landslides. Likewise, those living along the coast are warned on the occurrence of big waves associated with Storm Surge which may reach up to 4 meters.
• Heavy damage to agricultural plantation, medium and large trees maybe uprooted
• Considerable damage to structure of light to medium construction, while, majority of nipa and cogon houses unroofed or destroyed
• Severe damage to Billboards & signages
• Evacuation to a safer shelters is highly recommended
• Electrical power distribution and communication services maybe severely disrupted

Signal #2
• Travel by all types of sea vessels and aircrafts are risky
Residents in low lying and mountainous areas are alerted against possible flashfloods and landslides.
• Rice and corn maybe adversely affected
• Few large trees uprooted
• Large number of nipa and cogon houses partially or totally unroofed and old galvanized iron roofs may roll off.
• Billboards/Signage may roll off

Signal #1
• These areas will have occasional rains with occasional gusty winds.
• Twigs and branches of trees maybe broken
• Some banana plants may tilt or land flat on the ground
• Rice in flowering stage may suffer significant damage
• Some nipa and cogon houses maybe partially unroofed
• Sea travel of small sea crafts and fishing boats is risky

Expected Chronology of Landfall events

After the first landfall over Dolores, Eastern Samar, PAGASA says Ruby will have more landfall activities in the coming days. If it maintains its velocity, it will cross Masbate, Sibuyan, Romblon and Tablas Island . On Monday morning at around 5 to 7AM, it will have its last landfall over Oriental Mindoro before heading towards the West Philippine Sea.

PAGASA’s forecast = what really happened

Based on the 5AM Weather Forecast of PAGASA on Saturday, the Eastern and Central Visayas, Bicol Region and the Province of Romblon will experience stormy weather while the Western Visayas and the province of Quezon, Batangas, Marinduque, Mindoro, Dinagat, Surigao del Norte and Siargao Island will have rainy weather with gusty winds. Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.

Amount of rain recorded in Visayas (based on the 12hr rainfall data from PAGASA, as of December 6, 2014:

Catbalogan, Western Samar – 66mm
Borongan, Eastern Samar – 62mm
Tacloban, Leyte – 60mm

Sunday Weather

Ruby is expected to stay within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) until Tuesday evening if it maintains speed and direction. Today, December 7, 2014, the Eastern and Central Visayas, Bicol Region and Romblon will have stormy weather as Ruby continues to traverse the archipelago. Western Visayas, the provinces of Quezon, Batangas, Marinduque, Mindoro, Dinagat and Surigao del Norte including Siargao Island will have experience rains with gusty winds. Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.

Source: PAGASA-DOST

Metro Manila is being talked about as one of the areas to be hit by Typhoon Ruby. To disprove this speculation, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) revealed Typhoon Ruby’s forecast track cone of probability.

Based on this, Typhoon Ruby is expected to traverse the areas from Samar to Romblon. Though Metro Manila is not part of the forecast track, it is situated near the affected areas and within the 600-kilometer diameter of the typhoon, making it as one of the areas to experience heavy to intense rains.

PAGASA Weather Forecaster Loiz explained that the cone of probability refers to the accuracy of Typhoon Ruby’s movement. The shallower the cone, the more accurate the forecast; the wider the cone, the bigger the chance is for the typhoon to deviate from its original forecast track.