MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Saturday said tropical storm "Kong-Rey" will enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) either on Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Once the storm enters the PAR, it will locally be named "Leon".

The weather bureau said in its 11 a.m. bulletin that the storm's center is 1,630 kilometers east of Central Luzon, which is still far from the PAR. It has maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center, with gustiness of up to 80 kph and central pressure of 996 hectoPascals (hPa).

Its present movement is westward at 30 kph.

"This tropical cyclone is expected to gradually intensify and may reach severe tropical storm category on Sunday. Furthermore, it may also reach typhoon category on Monday," Pagasa said.

"Depending on how close it will be during its recurvature over the Philippine Sea, the outer rainbands of [Leon] may also affect Extreme Northern Luzon. Furthermore, it may also continue to influence the southwesterly windflow initially triggered by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, which may affect the western section of Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in the coming days," it added.

Once Leon enters the PAR, its path will be far from Philippine landmass, but its rain bands could affect Extreme Northern Luzon, the weather bureau said.

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