Typhoon “Ramil” continues to push the entire nation at the edge of its seat, giving the country slices of both good and bad news when the powerful cyclone slightly weakened and slowed down its approach toward Northern Luzon on Thursday.

But Ramil’s quasi-stationary state has also made it even more dangerous because it continues to leave weather forecasters baffled as to figuring out what the typhoon will develop into next, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Deputy Director Nathaniel Cruz noted, saying “anything can happen in the next 72 hours.”

PAGASA Administrator Prisco Nilo explained that the presence of two ridges of High Pressure Area (HPA) near the vicinity of Hong Kong and along the Philippine Sea or south of Japan have both weakened and slowed down the pace of Ramil.

Nilo explained that the vertical wind shear or the winds with different pressure that goes on in different directions within the two HPAs has been expected to continue weakening “Ramil” even though the typhoon was forecasted to hover over seas until Sunday.

“We are cancelling out the possibility for 'Ramil' to intensify further into a super typhoon-intensity,” he told reporters.

Nilo added that the HPA near the south of Japan has been influencing “Ramil” to move northwestward since Tuesday, but the other ridge of HPA near Hong Kong has been blocking the typhoon to go towards Taiwan, threatening to trap the cyclone around its current location until Sunday.

PAGASA said that Ramil weakened with maximum sustained winds of 160 kph near the center and a gustiness of 195 kph while significantly slowing its west southwestward movement at 5 kph as of 11 a.m. Thursday.

The weather bureau spotted Ramil in an almost stationary state over the Philippine Sea at about 300 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan, since 10 a.m. Thursday, postponing the typhoon's landfall in the province until Sunday night, instead of tonight.

Cruz explained that although the gradual weakening of the typhoon could be taken as a good sign, the abrupt deceleration of Ramil will still expose several areas in Ilocos, Cordillera, and Cagayan regions to prolonged storm surges, gusty winds, and heavy rains.

“This is a good news because it has bought more time for North Luzon to prepare for the typhoon.

This gives them three more days – from Friday and Saturday all the way to Sunday – to evacuate to safer places,” Cruz said.

“But this also means bad news because the slow movement of the typhoon will expose our coastal areas like Claveria, Aparri, and Sta. Ana towns in Cagayan, Palanan Bay in Isabela, as well as the northern part of Aurora to the threat of storm surges, and the beating of gusty winds,” he added.

PAGASA maintained Storm Signal No. 3 over Batanes, Apayao, Cagayan province, including Calayan and Babuyan groups of islands, where winds with strength of 100 to 185 kph have been expected to prevail until Friday morning.

Storm Signal No. 2 also remains hoisted over Ilocos Nortem Kalinga, Isabela, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Nueva Viscaya Quirino, and Aurora, where winds with strength of 60 to 100 kph have been forecasted to take effect until noon Friday.

The weather bureau raised Storm Signal No. 1 over Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, and the northern part of Quezon province, including Polilio Islands, where 30 to 60 kph-strong winds will blow over the area the whole day of Friday.

The highest weather official noted that by Sunday night, “Ramil” will make landfall in Aparri in Cagayan, where it will begin its exodus across Northern Luzon to dump 20 to 25 mm of torrential rains per hour for the duration of 24 hours until Monday evening.

Ramil is expected to be at 190 kilometers east of Aparri in Cagayan this morning while on Saturday, it has been forecasted to be at about 120 kilometers east of Aparri or 70 kilometers southeast of the same area on Sunday.