Dodong makes landfall in Isabela; Signal No. 1 up over 15 areas

Fifteen areas in Luzon were placed under Signal Number 1 as Tropical Depression Dodong made landfall in Dinapigue, Isabela, the state weather bureau PAGASA said on Friday morning.

These areas are the following:

• Cagayan
• Isabela
• Quirino
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Apayao
• Kalinga
• Abra
• Mountain Province
• Ifugao
• Benguet
• Ilocos Norte
• Ilocos Sur
• La Union
• the northern portion of Pangasinan (San Nicolas, San Manuel, Sison, San Fabian, Pozorrubio, Bolinao, Bani, City of Alaminos, Sual, Labrador, Lingayen, Agno, Binmaley, Dagupan City, San Jacinto, Mangaldan, Anda)
• the northern and central portions of Aurora (Maria Aurora, San Luis, Baler, Dipaculao, Dinalungan, Casiguran, Dilasag)

At 4 a.m., the center of Dodong was spotted in the vicinity of San Mariano, Isabela. The tropical cyclone was carrying maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour near the center with gustiness of up to 55 km/h, and moving west northwestward at 15 km.

A heavy rainfall outlook was issued for Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Apayao, Kalinga, Benguet, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan, and the northern portion of Aurora.

”Under these conditions, flooding and rain-induced landslides are possible, especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazard as identified in hazard maps and in localities that experienced considerable amounts of rainfall for the past several days,” PAGASA said in its 5 a.m. bulletin.

Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and the rest of Central Luzon will experience monsoon rains due to the combined effects of Dodong and the Southwest Monsoon.

The Bicol Region and Western Visayas will have occasional rains; the Zamboanga Peninsula and the rest of Visayas will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms; and partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms are forecast for the rest of Mindanao.

PAGASA said Dodong is forecast to cross the rugged landmass of Northern Luzon on Friday before moving towards the West Philippine Sea. It is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday or Sunday.

”Due to the potential impact of land interaction on the circulation of the tropical depression, changes to the track forecast scenario in the succeeding bulletins remain possible,” the state weather bureau said.