By Arlie O. Calalo
THE state-run weather agency said on Tuesday that Typhoon "Mawar" (international name) will likely be the second tropical cyclone that will enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Friday and will have its domestic name: "Betty."
Weather specialist Grace Castaneda of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the typhoon was last spotted some 2, 300 kilometers east of Visayas outside PAR.
Moving at 10 kilometers per hour (kph), it has maximum sustained winds of 155kph near the center and gustiness of up to 190kph, Pagasa said.
Citing Pagasa's monitoring track, Mawar, forecast to become a super typhoon, may enter PAR either Friday night or Saturday morning.
"But at the moment, it has no direct effect in the country," she said.
In the meantime, the Pagasa forecaster said the southwesterly wind flow is affecting the western sections of Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao over the next 24 hours.
The weather system, along with the localized thunderstorms, is bringing partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms over Metro Manila and the rest of the country, the state weather bureau said.
