Typhoon Conson weakens as it crosses Luzon

Typhoon Conson slammed into the Philippine island of Luzon yesterday as a Category 1 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale and is crossing the southern portion of the island at this time. As it interacts with land, the storm has weakened to tropical storm strength.

Conson now has sustained winds of 55 MPH (88 km/hr) with gusts up to 75 MPH (120 km/hr). Conson is forecast to remain a tropical storm as it moves across the South China Sea towards South China, however, this is a region that has very warm sea surface temperatures and relatively low wind shear at the moment so further strengthening will not be too surprising.


Conson Weakens to Tropical Storm as it Crosses Philippines (BusinessWeek)

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Typhoon Conson weakened to a tropical storm as it went ashore on the Philippine island of Luzon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration.

The storm, also called Basyang by the Philippine agency, was located about 129 kilometers (80 miles) east of Manila, the nation’s capital, with top winds of about 111 kilometers per hour, the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported.

It lost power after touching land late yesterday and encountering heavy vertical wind shear, the typhoon center said. Conson made landfall near the town of Infanta and was expected to cross the island, according to an update from the Philippine agency at 11 p.m. Manila time yesterday.

The projected path for Conson is for the storm to turn towards the northwest and head for a region between Hainan Island and Macau. The potential exists for the storm to also turn further to the north towards Taiwan depending on whether a high pressure system weakens or blocks the storm.

Conson now a tropical storm; Wednesday key for Taiwan (China Post)

Conson continued on its path toward the Luzon Island in the Philippines, where the storm will make landfall today or tomorrow, the CWB forecasted.

The tropical storm was 1,300 km southeast of Taiwan's southern tip of Hengchun as of yesterday afternoon and was moving 21 km/hr west-northwest said Lin Hsiu-wen, deputy director of the CWB's weather forecast center.

The storm will have no impact on Taiwan's weather today or tomorrow, Lin said, pointing out that the strength of the Pacific high pressure system will be the key factor whether Conson will affect Taiwan. The faster the Pacific high pressure system weakens, the closer Conson will be to Taiwan.