'Agaton' intensifies into storm, but useless vs El Niño

"Agaton," the first cyclone to enter Philippine territory this year, intensified into a storm, but it is "useless" as it cannot bring relief to areas devastated by El Niño phenomenon. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said that while isolated rains are expected Thursday, these will not come from Agaton. "Walang epekto sa ating bansa so far, walang silbi si Agaton. Inaasahan sana natin magbigay ng pagbuhos ng pag-ulan, mukhang wala (It has no effect yet on any part of the country. You can say Agaton was useless because it had been expected to bring rains, but it does not look like it will)," Pagasa forecaster Elvie Enriquez said in an interview on dzBB radio early Thursday. She said the isolated thunderstorms that may take place during the day are due more to the intense heat during the morning. Enriquez also said Agaton is moving northwest and is not likely to make landfall in any part of Philippine territory. "Inaasahan natin sa bansa magandang panahon maliban sa isolated na thunderstorms, dulot naman ng sobrang init sa umaga (We expect some isolated thunderstorms but these are due more to the heat during the morning)," she said. Citing forecast models, Enriquez said that Agaton may head northwest toward Japan, or dissolve if it encounters the northeast windflow. Meanwhile, Pagasa's 5 a.m. bulletin indicated that Agaton was estimated at 800 km east of Virac, Catanduanes in Bicol. It had maximum sustained winds of 65 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph, and is moving northwest at 17 kph. "The whole archipelago will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms," Pagasa's bulletin said. — LBG, GMANews.TV