[This message has been edited by outwest77]
For those of you who have not heard, there is a SERIOUS, typhoon, heading for the philippines, specifically Luzon, northern luzon at the present moment, The Navy has categorized this as a SUPER TYPHOON with sustained winds of 150mph and gusts up to 200mph, If you have relatives in Luzon, call them , tell them to get ready and get to high ground, this is going to be a dangerous storm.
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Newspaper Report Follows
Typhoon threatens to
spoil Holy Week in RP
Posted: 11:32 PM (Manila Time) | Apr. 16, 2003
By Gerald Lacuarta and Inquirer wires
Inquirer News Service
TYPHOON Kujira, now over the Pacific Ocean, has intensified further and was on course for Northern Luzon, the weather bureau warned Wednesday. It will be named Amang once it enters the Philippine area of responsibility.
The latest satellite data of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) indicated that Kujira -- a Japanese word for "whale" -- was at 1,460 kilometers southeast of Northern Luzon at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
It has maximum sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 200 kph. It is forecast to move west northwest at 19 kph, Pagasa said.
The US Navy tagged Kujira a "super typhoon" with maximum sustained winds of 250 kph and gustiness of up to 305 kph.
Its eye is estimated to be at 1,150 km southeast of Northern Luzon by this afternoon, at 790 km east southeast of Northern Luzon by Friday afternoon and at 400 km east of Northern Luzon by Saturday afternoon, Pagasa said.
"If it will maintain its speed and direction -- it's still at west northwest at 24 kph -- it could hit the Philippine land mass by early Saturday or late Friday," wire news services quoted weather forecaster Bobby Rivero as saying.
Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos are expected to be on the move by land, air and sea over the four-day Easter weekend starting Thursday as they visit churches, travel to the provinces or head to the beach.
The typhoon developed as a tropical depression in the vicinity of the Caroline Islands late last week. It continued to gain strength as it moved in a generally west northwest track.
Pagasa said Eastern Luzon and Eastern Visayas would experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms on Thursday.
The rest of the country will be partly cloudy or occasionally cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.