The latest storm information on August 9 from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that Typhoon Podul has strengthened from a tropical storm to a strong tropical storm outside the Philippine Forecast Area (PAR).
In the bulletin, PAGASA said that Typhoon Podul is 2,095km from Northern Luzon, Philippines. The storm is moving slowly west-northwest, with maximum sustained winds of 95 km/h, gusts of 115 km/h, up from the corresponding indices of 85 km/h and 105 km/h recorded in previous forecasts.
Philippine typhoon forecasters say Typhoon Podul could continue to strengthen into a typhoon on August 10. The storm is likely to enter the Philippine forecast area on the night of August 10 or early morning of August 11. When entering PAR, the storm near the South China Sea will be locally named Gorio.
According to the PAGASA bulletin, Typhoon Podul may move westward on August 10 and 11, then return west-northwest or northwest from August 12.
With this forecast track, Typhoon Podul will be far from the Philippine mainland and is unlikely to directly affect the weather in this country in the next 5 days.
However, PAGASA stressed uncertainty over the expected path and intensity of Typhoon Podul from August 11. " any change in the forecast track to the north or south will significantly change the intensity of the forecast," PAGASA experts noted.
The change in the forecast path of Typhoon Podul was also mentioned by weather forecasters in Taiwan (China) in the latest news on August 9.
The bulletin said that the storm that formed on August 8 is likely to pass through the north of the island next week instead of affecting the south. Forecasters initially thought that Typhoon Podul would move westward, passing through the Bashi Strait between the East Sea and the Philippine Sea.
However, according to the latest forecast, Typhoon Podul will pass through the area between Taiwan (China) and Japan from August 12. The storm is expected to continuously strengthen and begin to weaken from August 13.
If developments confirm the northward movement of Typhoon Podul, rainfall will be concentrated in the Taipei, Yilan and Hualien regions of Taiwan (China). Forecasters note that the situation will be clearer early next week.
The change of path of Typhoon Podul has also been confirmed by forecasters from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) of the US Navy.
The JTWC's typhoon bulletin said that Typhoon Podul has been moving west-northwest at a speed of 17 km/h for the past 6 hours. The storm is expected to continuously intensify as it moves west, then northwest at sea. Typhoon Podul is expected to weaken to 55 km/h when it makes landfall in China.
