Babuyan Islands remain under tropical cyclone wind signal number 5 as Super Typhoon ''Nando'' made landfall over the island of Panuitan in Calayan, Cagayan on Monday afternoon.

''Nando'', with maximum sustained winds of 215 kph and gustiness of up to 295 kph was last spotted over the coastal waters of Calayan Island in Cagayan while moving westward at the speed of 25kph.

"After making landfall over Panuitan Island, Calayan, Cagayan at 3:00 pm today, 'Nando' will move away from the Babuyan Islands tonight. On the track forecast, it will exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility tomorrow (23 September) morning," the state weather bureau said.

"'Nando' is at its peak intensity, although slight intensification is still not ruled out. Nevertheless, the super typhoon is forecast to begin weakening within the next 24 hours due to marginally favorable environment that it will encounter over the West Philippine Sea," it added.

Mariners of motorbancas and similarly-sized vessels are advised to take precautionary measures while venturing out to sea as high risk of life-threatening storm surge with peak heights exceeding 3 meter is expected within the next 24 hours over the low-lying or exposed coastal localities of Batanes, Cagayan including Babuyan Islands, Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur.

Aside from signal number five, the southern portion of Batanes (Basco, Mahatao, Ivana, Uyugan, Sabtang), the northern portion of mainland Cagayan (Santa Ana, Santa Praxedes, Claveria, Sanchez-Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Ballesteros, Aparri, Buguey, Santa Teresita, Gonzaga, Camalaniugan) and the northern portion of Ilocos Norte (Pagudpud, Burgos, Bangui, Dumalneg, Adams) were placed under signal number four.

Signal number three was also raised over the rest of Batanes, the central portion of mainland Cagayan (Lal-Lo, Gattaran, Baggao, Alcala, Santo Nino, Lasam, Allacapan, Rizal, Amulung, Piat), the northern and central portions of Apayao (Flora, Santa Marcela, Pudtol, Luna, Calanasan, Kabugao), and the rest of Ilocos Norte.

On the other hand, the rest of mainland Cagayan, Isabela, the rest of Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, the northern portion of Benguet (Mankayan, Buguias, Bakun, Kibungan), the northeastern portion of Nueva Vizcaya (Diadi) , Ilocos Sur, and the northern portion of La Union (Sudipen, Bangar, Luna, Balaoan, Santol) are under signal number two, while the areas of Quirino, the rest of Nueva Vizcaya, the rest of Benguet, the rest of La Union, Pangasinan, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Zambales, and the northern portion of Quezon (General Nakar) including Polillo Islands were placed under signal number one.

In a briefing, a state weather forecaster also announced the entry of another low pressure area which might developed into the next tropical cyclone that may affect the country in the coming days.

As of late Monday afternoon the LPA was monitored outside Philippine Area of Responsibility, around 1,480 km east of northeastern Mindanao.

The LPA is expected to affect the eastern side of Visayas and Mindanao when it enters PAR by Tuesday. Robina Asido/DMS