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MANILA, Philippines – Tropical Depression Ramon, which maintained its strength on Tuesday evening, November 12, is expected to affect parts of Luzon as well as the provinces in the island of Samar in the Visayas.

In a briefing past 11 pm on Tuesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Ramon is now 585 kilometers east of Borongan City, Eastern Samar.

The tropical depression is moving west at just 10 kilometers per hour (km/h).

Ramon still has maximum winds of 55 km/h and gustiness of up to 70 km/h. It is expected to intensify into a tropical storm within the next 24 hours.

Signal No. 1 remains up over:

• Eastern Samar
• eastern part of Northern Samar

Signal No. 1 means winds of 30 km/h to 60 km/h are expected. (READ: FAST FACTS: Tropical cyclones, rainfall advisories)

In terms of rainfall, below is PAGASA’s latest forecast.

Wednesday, November 13

• Light to moderate rain with occasionally heavy rain
• Bicol
• Northern Samar
• Light to moderate rain with intermittent heavy rain
• Eastern Samar
• Samar
• Romblon
• Marinduque
• southern part of Quezon

Thursday, November 14

• Light to moderate rain with occasionally heavy rain
• Isabela
• Aurora
• Quirino
• northern part of Quezon, including Polillo Island
• Camarines Norte
• Light to moderate rain with intermittent heavy rain
• Cagayan
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Romblon
• Marinduque
• rest of Bicol
• rest of Quezon

Residents of those areas must watch out for possible flash floods and landslides.

Travel is also risky, especially for small vessels, in the seaboards of areas under Signal No. 1, as well as the seaboards of Northern Luzon and the eastern seaboards of Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, and the Visayas.

Based on Ramon’s latest forecast track, it could make landfall in the Isabela-Cagayan area on Saturday, November 16. This is if it maintains its current speed and direction.

Ramon is the Philippines’ 18th tropical cyclone for 2019, and the 2nd for November. (READ: LIST: PAGASA’s names for tropical cyclones in 2019)

The country gets an average of 20 tropical cyclones annually, but since 2019 is an El Niño year, only 14 to 18 tropical cyclones are expected.

Below is the estimated number of tropical cyclones for the last two months of 2019:

• November – 1 or 2
• December – 0 or 1

PAGASA declared the start of the rainy season last June 14. – Rappler.com