Powerful Typhoon Melor to Batter Philippines Into Wednesday

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

December 14,2015; 11:25AM,EST

 

 

Melor, also known as Nona in the Philippines, will continue to bring heavy rain and damaging winds to the Philippines into midweek.
Melor was the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane as it moved into the Philippines on Monday.

In advance of Melor, more than 700,000 people were evacuated in northern Visayas and southern Luzon, according to the Philippines Government.
Melor has also resulted in the cancellation of schools and universities in the path of cyclone while also causing numerous travel delays and flight cancellations.
Melor made landfall over Bulusan, Sorogon, in southern Luzon at 4 p.m. local time Monday afternoon, the Philippine Weather Service reports. Melor will track over southernmost Luzon Island into Tuesday.
Powerful winds in excess of 160 km/h (100 mph) threaten to cause widespread destruction in southernmost Luzon and along the northern coast of Samar. This includes Naga and Legazpi City.
Near and north of Melor's center, east-facing coastal areas will be subject to an inundating storm surge.
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"Melor is a very compact typhoon, so that will prevent its most devastating impacts from extending too far from its center," AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
Winds in excess of 115 km/h (73 mph) extend only 55 km (35 miles) away from Melor's center.
Melor will continue to weaken as it crosses the central Philippines into Tuesday. However, damaging wind gusts higher than 130 km/h (80 mph) will target the rest of southern Luzon to Mindoro.

Rainfall amounts could top 300 mm (12 inches) in the central Philippines, especially across the higher terrain. Life-threatening flooding and mudslides may be a serious concern.
Manila will experience impacts from the typhoon as well. While strong winds will bypass the city to the south, heavy rainfall will be a possibility.

"There is the potential for 100-150 mm (4-6 inches) of rain to cause flooding in Manila on Tuesday into Wednesday," Douty said. "The city may even escape these totals if it passes far enough to the south."
After blasting the Philippines, Melor is expected to weaken further as it turns southwestward into the South China Sea later this week.
Another potential tropical system will follow in the footsteps of Melor later this week. This tropical threat will bring another round of heavy rain to the Philippines as early as Thursday or Friday.
This time the heaviest rain is expected to be farther south impacting the southern half of the Philippines regardless of whether development occurs.