Sierra Madre weakens Uwan into typhoon - Pagasa

The Sierra Madre is trending on social media, after Super Typhoon Uwan weakened into a typhoon upon hitting the mountain range in the country’s eastern section and spared much of the Luzon provinces from its wrath.

- By EJ MACABABBAD

Did the 540-kilometer mountain range temper the monstrous storm?

Yes, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

“Sierra Madre indeed weakened Uwan into a typhoon category upon landfall primarily because of the friction,” Marcelino Villafuerte II, PAGASA’s deputy administrator for research and development, said.

Villafuerte affirmed social media postings that showed satellite images of Uwan with its eye disappearing after passing through Sierra Madre.

“Sierra Madre distorted the structure of the typhoon as it passed through the mountain range with elevations of approximately 2,000 meters,” the PAGASA official explained.

Like the typhoon, however, people’s expectations of the mountain range should also be tempered, as the landform offers Luzon no blanket protection from cyclones.

American storm chaser Josh Morgerman went to his Facebook page to remind Filipinos that Sierra Madre does not diminish a typhoon from the get-go.