PHL Ends 2015 With Less Typhoons; to Decommission 2 Killer Cyclones

Are 15 typhoons a year now the new normal for the calamity-weary Philippines?

That’s exactly the number of typhoons that entered the country in 2015, which is three to five typhoons less than what Filipinos have been accustomed to.

Experts from the weather bureau have attributed the drop in frequency to the fierce El Niño this year, which is expected to persist until first quarter of 2016.

PAGASA senior weather forecaster Vic Manalo said that every year, an average of about 19 to 20 storms affect the Philippines but with the presence of El Niño it affected the track of the tropical cyclones.

Since November last year, warm ocean conditions persist which show that El Niño was already in progress.

He said the El Niño is projected to last until the first quarter of next year.

The El Niño event occurs when sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific (CEEP) become warmer than normal.

The El Niño, which occurs usually every two to seven years, is the opposite of the La Niña phenomenon that is associated with “wetter” conditions.

Manalo said the last time the country experienced 15 tropical cyclones was in 2007; 11 were recorded in 2010; 2011 has 19; 2012 with 17; 2013 with 25; 2014 has 19 tropical cyclones.

Meanwhile, Manalo said the agency has decommissioned the name “Lando” from the list of typhoon names this year due to its severe impact on lives and property .

“There are certain requirements in decommissioning the names of tropical cyclones. If it caused 300-400 casualties and PHP1 billion or above cost of damage, then the name will be eliminated from the list and will be replaced by another name,” said Manalo.

Last October, the amount of damage due to typhoon Lando has reached PHP9.8 billion and left 47 people dead.

He noted that Lando was used in 2011 and met the criteria and has been replaced by “Liwayway.”

He added the agency is also planning to decommission “Nona”.

According to NDRRMC, typhoon Nona has left 41 people dead and amount of damage has reached PHP4.9 billion.

PAGASA said the decommissioning of “extraordinarily destructive storms” has been practiced since February 1979.

Other previously decommissioned names are “Pepeng” (Parma), which killed 465 people and destroyed PHP27.3 billion in property and infrastructure in 2009; “Frank” (Fengshen) in 2008, which caused PHP13.5 billion in damage and 557 deaths; and “Ondoy” (Ketsana), a severe tropical storm in 2009, which killed 464 people and caused PHP11 billion in damage.

Typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan), the monster cyclone that caused massive death and destruction in the Visayas in November 2013, was replaced with “Yasmin.”

The sets of tropical cyclone names were used every four years, from 2013-2016, 2017-2020, 2021-2024, and so on.

In the event that the number of tropical cyclones within the year exceeds 25, the auxiliary list is used. (PNA) JBP/CLTC