Pepito intensifies into a Severe Tropical Storm, Pagasa said on its severe weather bulletin issued at 5 pm on Wednesday.
At 4:00 PM today, the center of Severe Tropical Storm Pepito was estimated based on all available data at 295 km West of Dagupan City, Pangasinan (16.4 °N, 117.6 °E ).
It is moving Westward at 15 km/h with maximum sustained winds of 95 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 115 km/h.
Pepito is forecast to move generally west-northwestward over the West Philippine Sea today, before slowing down and turning northwestward tomorrow. It is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) tomorrow morning or afternoon. On the forecast track, Pepito will accelerate and turn westward beginning Friday towards the central portion of Vietnam.
It intensified into a severe tropical storm at 2:00 PM today. It is forecast to gradually intensify over the West Philippine Sea and may reach its peak intensity on Friday or Saturday.
Pepito intensifies to Severe Tropical Storm
Today through tomorrow morning, light to moderate with at times heavy rains will be experienced over Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Batanes, Babuyan Islands, Zambales, Bataan, Occidental Mindoro, and Palawan. Flooding (including flash floods) and rain-induced landslides may occur during heavy or prolonged rainfall especially in areas that are highly or very highly susceptible to these hazards. PAGASA Regional Services Divisions may issue local thunderstorm/rainfall advisories and heavy rainfall warnings as appropriate.
TCWS #1 over the western portion of Pangasinan is now lifted. No TCWS is currently in effect. However, high to gale-force winds due to the northeasterly surface wind flow will also be experienced over Northern Luzon, especially in coastal and mountainous areas.
Gale Warning is in effect due to rough to very rough seas (2.5 to 5.5 m) over the entire seaboards of Northern and Central Luzon, the seaboard of northern Quezon including Polillo Islands, and the western seaboards of Batangas, Occidental Mindoro (including Lubang Islands), and Palawan (including Calamian and Kalayaan Islands). Sea travel is risky over these areas, especially for those using small seacrafts.
At 4:00 PM today, the Tropical Depression outside the PAR was estimated based on all available data at 1,865 km East Northeast of Extreme Northern Luzon (24.4 °N, 139.6 °E).