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“The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has adopted a new system of classification of weather disturbances, which are immediately reflected in initials preceding the name of cyclones,” reports Ding Cervantes in The Philippine Star.
PAGASA weather division chief Esperanza Cayanan said the new classification system takes effect this month. The cyclones are now classified into five categories:
- Tropical depression (TD) with wind velocity of about 61 kilometers per hour (kph)
- Tropical storm (TS) with wind velocity of 62 to 88 kph
- Severe tropical storm (STS) with wind velocity of 89 to 117 kph
- Typhoon (TY) with wind velocity of 118 to 220 kph
- Super typhoon (STY) with wind velocity of at least 220 kph
Cayanan explained: “From now on, the initials of the categories would be affixed before the name of a cyclone. Thus, if the name of a super typhoon is Dodong, it would be referred to as STY Dodong in advisories.”
However, public storm warning signals (PSWS), which indicate the wind velocity forecast of a weather disturbance for a certain period, would remain the same.
- Signal No. 1 for wind velocity of 30 to 60 kph in the next 36 hours
- Signal No. 2 for 61 to 120 kph wind velocity within 24 hours
- Signal No. 3 for 121 to 170 kph wind velocity within 18 hours
- Signal no. 4 for 171 to 220 kph within 12 hours
- Signal no. 5 for wind velocity of 220 kph or more within 12 hours
Photo: MorgueFile
