A SEVERE tropical storm outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) is expected to enter the country this Friday or over the weekend, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.
The weather disturbance (international name ‘Mawar’), will be given the local name ‘Betty’ once it enters PAR, according to PAGASA.
It will be the second tropical cyclone to enter the country this year and the first for this month. The country’s first tropical cyclone this year, tropical depression ‘Amang,’ hit last April, affecting 26,065 families or 96,425 individuals in Calabarzon and Bicol.
The weather disturbance was monitored as a low-pressure area last Thursday but intensified into a tropical depression and later into a tropical storm last Saturday.
Yesterday, it intensified into a severe tropical storm.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, Mawar was some 2,390 kms east of northeastern Mindanao packing maximum sustained winds of 100 kph and gustiness of up to 105 kph.
PAGASA said Mawar is forecast to further intensify as it is still in the Pacific Ocean, gaining strength.
“This tropical cyclone is expected to intensify into a typhoon in the next 24 hours. It’s possible it will enter our Philippine Area of Responsibility by Friday or over the weekend,” PAGASA weather forecaster Veronica Torres said in a public weather forecast yesterday afternoon.
At present, Torres said Mawar is not directly affecting any part of the country.
“But we will continue monitoring because severe tropical storm Mawar may enhance southwesterly wind flow, which is affecting western sections of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao,” said Torres.
In a public weather forecast yesterday morning, PAGASA weather forecaster Patrick Del Mundo said there is low chance the tropical cyclone will make landfall in any part of the country.
Del Mundo also said the entry of the weather cyclone may signal the start of the rainy season in the country.
