MANILA, Philippines — "Champi" has turned into a super typhoon, said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
"The typhoon with the international name Champi intensified and has become a super typhoon," Weather Specialist Aldczar Aurelio said in Filipino and English in the 5 a.m. weather update on Sunday.
"It has no direct effect on our country today," Aurelio said.
"Champi" was expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Tuesday. When it does, it will locally be called Rosal.
Based on Pagasa's tropical cyclone advisory issued at 5 a.m. on Sunday, "Champi" was 2,230 kilometers east of southeastern Luzon as of 4 a.m. and was moving west- northwestward at 25 kilometers pero hour (km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h near the center and gustiness reaching 230 km/h.
Aurelio said that Pagasa could raise Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal 1 over the northern and eastern sections of north Luzon as well as over the eastern section of Bicol on Monday or Tuesday "because of the breadth and movement of" Champi.
"This coming Wednesday, October 21, we will experience gusts of strong winds almost in the entire country, " he also said.
"It is possible that in the coming Thursday or Friday, we will experience heavy rains" in extreme nother Luzon due to Champi, he said.
Aurelio said good and fair weather was expected in a big part of Luzon including Metro Manila today, Sunday, "except for localized thunderstorms" which "will bring isolated rain showers or sudden rain showers."
He said that because of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms would be experienced today in Palawan, Zamboanga Peninsula, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, and Basilan.
The rest of Mindanao and the entire Visayas "will experience good and fair weather" today, he said. These two areas would experience "partly cloudy to cloudy skies except for isolated rain showers...due to localized thunderstorms."
