Typhoon Florita Heads North (which is good for us).

As reported today in Rappler.com...

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Florita (international name Neoguri) may turn into a super typhoon by the afternoon of Monday, July 7, though the typhoon is not expected to make landfall in the Philippines, according to independent weather monitoring agency Weather Philippines, as of this posting.

By around 2 pm on Monday, the typhoon's one-minute maximum sustained winds may reach 250 kilometers per hour (kph), fulfilling the definition of a super typhoon which has one-minute sustained winds of at least 240 kph.

Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) registered winds of up to 315 kph.

Another forecasting model used by Weather Philippines indicates that Florita may achieve one-minute maximum sustained winds of 260 kph as early as Monday morning.

Florita is gaining strength as it approaches land masses in the Philippines. As of 7 pm on July 6, the weather system was spotted 810 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan in North Luzon.

As it continues to move northwest, it is expected to strengthen monsoon rains in Mimaropa (Region IV-B), Panay including Guimaras and Negros Occidental from Sunday to Monday. PAGASA also announced that Western Visayas, Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna and Batangas will experience monsoon rains.

Flash floods and landslides are likely in these areas.

Florita is forecasted to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Tuesday when it makes a sharp turn to the north towards the East China Sea.

So this is a big storm, but it's not going to land here.  Still, as we are in the province of Negros Occidental, we are experiencing the strengthening of our normal monsoon rains.  We got caught in a rainstorm yesterday while visiting the Ecopark nearby.  Last night was very rainy here and we expect today to be particularly soggy.  Fortunately, we are not in an area prone to landslides and so we will have no real problems with this storm.  And that's good news not only for us, but for the families of the kids here.  Many of them live in areas still showing damage from that last big typhoon.