Tropical Storm Son-Tinh (Ofel) Update #7

Tropical Storm Son-Tinh (Bagyong Ofel) is now recovering over the South China and continues to pull away from the Philippines. The storm was last located approximately 440km west of Manila. Maximum sustained winds are now at 95kph with gusts of up to 120kph. TS Son-Tinh is currently moving west northwestward at 20kph.

As of 5am this morning, PAGASA has dropped all Public Storm Warning Signals in the Philippines.

**If you have any images or videos from yesterday as Tropical Storm Son-Tinh (Bagyong Ofel) lashed across the Philippines, please share them with us at philippineweather@yahoo.com

IR Image from NRLMRY

Latest satellite image shows Son-Tinh recovering significantly after crossing the Philippines yesterday. A symmetrical central dense overcast (CDO) seems to be forming with good convective banding and radial outflow. The bulk of the rains are now over the waters. However, some occasional rain showers may still impact western parts of Luzon and Visayas today although compared to yesterday, the weather will be much better.

Tropical Storm Son-Tinh will continue to move across the South China Sea today and will also slowly intensify along the way. Due to the overall improvements last night and the continued favorable conditions in the region, we are still expecting that Son-Tinh will briefly attain Typhoon-status by tomorrow morning (Saturday). Then by tomorrow evening at the earliest, Son-Tinh is forecast to make landfall in Northern Vietnam as a weakening tropical storm. It will pass just south of Hanoi and then rapidly weaken to a Tropical Depression by Sunday. Widespread rains are possible all across the Indochina and including parts of Southwestern China including the island of Hainan.

We'll have another update later this afternoon.
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Issued (23 UTC) 7am PhT 102612