Typhoons may bring unprecedented rainfall – UP study

A meteorologist of the Manila City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department monitors Tropical Storm Queenie, which has entered the Philippine area of responsibility.

Edd Gumban

MANILA, Philippines — Typhoons could bring unprecedented rainfall as the atmosphere warms, according to a 2026 study by experts from the University of the Philippines.

Researchers from the UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology Climate and High Impact Weather Laboratory, led by Rafaela Jane Delfino, said the atmosphere can hold roughly seven percent more water vapor for every degree Celsius of warming, citing the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship.

The scientists said typhoons such as Super Typhoon Yolanda are highly efficient at drawing moisture and converting it into precipitation.

Additional moisture from warming was the dominant driver for tropical cyclones Yolanda, Pablo and Ompong, while storm dynamics varied from cyclone to cyclone.

“With the findings of our paper, it becomes very important to know in advance where a typhoon will pass, where it will make landfall, and where it will go afterward,” Delfino said.

Urging a shift in how the country prepares for disasters, researchers she said disasters should not be understood or prepared for as isolated events.

Queenie to intensify

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Queenie is expected to intensify into a typhoon over the weekend, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said yesterday.

PAGASA weather specialist John Manalo said Queenie (Surigae) may develop into a typhoon near the boundary of the Philippine area of responsibility.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, Queenie was 755 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes, packing winds of 85 km per hour and gusts of up to 105 kph while moving west-northwest at 20 kph.

The intertropical convergence zone will bring cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over Negros Island Region, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Caraga, Davao Oriental and Basilan. — Josiah Antonio