‘Lando’ now inside PAR, may intensify into super typhoon

Tropical Storm Koppu, which formed Tuesday in the Pacific Ocean, is heading west in a direction that may bring it ashore in the northern Philippines later this week. It was assigned the name Lando.

Tropical storm Koppu (international name) is expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Wednesday and now has a higher chance of making landfall over Luzon, the state weather bureau said.

At 11 a.m. EDT Tropical Storm Koppu’s maximum sustained winds were near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph).

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) located the center of “Lando” at at 1410 kilometers East of Baler, Aurora, as of 4 p.m. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects the depression to strengthen into a tropical storm by October 16 at which time it would be re-named Champi. Aurelio added that Lando could become a typhoon before it makes landfall.

“Sa ngayon, mataas na ang tsansa nitong mag-landfall sa northern Luzon o sa extreme northern Luzon”.

Koppu was moving to the west at 11 knots (12.6 mph/20.3 kph).

She noted fair weather or partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated thunderstorms will prevail over Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

In its advisory, PAGASA said moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and Eastern Visayas and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough.