DESPITE being a super typhoon, “Mawar” (international name), which will be renamed “Betty” once inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), remains unlikely to make landfall but may trigger the southwest monsoon or “habagat.” 

Weather specialist Obet Badrina of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said on Wednesday that the super typhoon is forecast to enter PAR on Saturday.

Pagasa said Mawar was estimated some 2, 215 kilometers east of Visayas (outside PAR) while moving northwestward slowly.

It has maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 230kph, the state-run weather agency said.

“Based on Pagasa’s monitoring track, the super typhoon once inside PAR will move towards Taiwan and it may also turn on its way to Japan,” Badrina said.

Citing the agency’s latest forecast, Badrina said it has less chance to make landfall but it will trigger habagat “that will bring rains in large parts of the country particularly in western sections of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao starting Sunday onwards.”

Over the next 24 hours, it would be rainy, especially over Palawan, Zamboanga Peninsula and BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) due to the southwesterly wind flow – wind coming from the south-west.

The state weather bureau said that almost similar situations will be experienced over Babuyan Islands and Batanes due to the frontal system, the area where the cold and dry air meet.

In Metro Manila and the rest of the country, Pagasa said it would be cloudy but hot except for isolated rain showers or thunderstorms particularly during the afternoon and at night. — Arlie O. Calalo