The Philippines’ state weather bureau PAGASA said on Wednesday, March 23, that it revised its definition of a super typhoon category to align with U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) to avoid confusion in weather forecasting.
This means that the country will now consider storms with at least 185 kilometer-per-hour winds as a super typhoon, from the previous 220 kph requirement, which was the highest in Asia, according to PAGASA.
“‘Pag nag-declare ‘yung JTWC ng supertyphoon, ang PAGASA magde-declare na rin po ng super typhoon kasi kung iko-compare po sa kanila, 185 din po ang equivalent n’ya sa atin,” JUN Galang, PAGASA Weather Division Officer said in a press briefing.
The revised categorization immediately took-effect yesterday, March 23.
If the revise were made in 2021, it would have made Typhoon Odette a super typhoon when it crashed into Roxas, Palawan with 195 kph winds on December 18.