A satellite view of Phanfone making landfall in the Philippines on Tuesday evening, local time.
As AccuWeather meteorologists have been warning about since last week, Phanfone made landfall in the Eastern Samar province of the Philippines on Tuesday afternoon, local time.Phanfone, known locally in the Philippines as Ursula, struck the country as a typhoon with the equivalent strength of a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic or East Pacific basins.> At 4:45 PM today, the eye of Typhoon URSULA made landfall in Salcedo, Eastern Samar. pic.twitter.com/9mKAqIocCX> > -- PAGASA-DOST (@dost_pagasa) December 24, 2019Over 23,000 passengers have been stranded at ports in Bicol, Visayas, Tagalog and Mindanao due to the storm, the Philippine Coast Guard reported.Phanfone will continue to track to the west-northwest through the central Philippines into Wednesday.Even after landfall, forecasters predict the powerful storm to continue to unleash destructive winds and heavy rainfall as it tracks across the country.Visayas and southern Luzon will be at risk for multiple days of locally heavy rainfall which may result in travel disruptions and flooding problems. There will also be an elevated risk for mudslides in areas of rugged terrain.
Far northeast Mindanao will also be at risk for local flooding from downpours.Damaging winds will be possible near and just north of the storm's track as it slices across Visayas into Wednesday.Manila is forecast to avoid any significant impacts from Phanfone. However, gusty showers are possible during the day on Wednesday.
Improving weather is expected across all of the Philippines on Thursday as Phanfone tracks into the South
China Sea.The storm will more than likely encounter hostile conditions with high wind shear that possibly cause it to dissipate by the weekend, with no further impacts to land.A period of more tranquil weather across the West Pacific basin is expected to follow in the wake of Phanfone.