Weakening Typhoon Maysak Heads for Philippines

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

April 4,2015; 12:18AM,EDT

 

Residents of the Philippines can breathe a sigh of relief but should not let their guard down since once-Super Typhoon Maysak is weakening yet remains on course to make landfall this weekend.
Maysak (locally known as Chedeng) was at its peak intensity when March transitioned to April with maximum sustained winds of 260 kph (160 mph), which is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.
Strong and disruptive wind shear has caused Maysak to weaken, a trend that will continue as the typhoon continues its journey toward the Philippines.
Maysak will either be a tropical storm or on the verge of becoming one when it makes landfall in northern Luzon Island early Sunday morning, local time (Saturday evening EDT).
The entire eastern beaches of the Philippines are already feeling the outer effects of Maysak, in the form of rough surf and a high rip current threat.
Dangerous surf will continue to build along the eastern coast of Luzon through the start to the weekend.

The northern and central eastern coast of Luzon will otherwise face the worst of Maysak on Saturday night through Sunday.
Damaging winds of 80 to 115 kph (50 to 70 mph) will whip the coast near and north of where Maysak comes onshore. Wind capable of causing localized tree damage and sporadic power outages will spread across the rest of northern Luzon on Sunday.
A total of 50 to 100 mm (2 to 4 inches) of rain will soak northern Luzon with the highest rainfall amounts set to target the eastern coast and mountains. There could even be locally up to 250 mm (10 inches) of rain in the higher terrain.
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The majority of Maysak's impacts will bypass Manila, but it is not out of the question for a tropical downpour to soak the city on Sunday.
The weakening trend of Maysak will continue to close out the weekend due to the mountainous terrain of Luzon.
This satellite image of Maysak tracking across the Pacific Ocean is courtesy of NOAA.
After exiting the Philippines, Maysak is not expected to restrengthen despite crossing the South China Sea early next week. The once-super typhoon, which was one of the strongest cyclones in history during the months of January, February and March, will instead weaken further and will likely dissipate.