SUPER typhoon Mawar, local name Betty once it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility, has a low chance of making landfall anywhere in the Philippines, according to the forecast track of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Eng. Al Quiblat, Pagasa 7 director, said Central and Eastern Visayas will experience the indirect effect of the typhoon with the increasing strength of the southwest monsoon, or habagat, at 60 kilometers per hour (km/h) over the weekend.
On Monday, May 29, 2023, or Tuesday, May 30, Betty will head to the Batanes area, but it has a great chance of moving away from the country.
Chances are, said Quiblat, there will be interruptions in maritime transportation with the issuance of a gale warning since 60 km/h will produce waves measuring three to four meters.
Due to the enhanced southwest monsoon, the western part of the Visayas and other western parts of the country will experience light to moderate rain and occasional heavy rains due to thunderstorms.
Quiblat reminded the citizens not to compare the possible impact of Betty to what they experienced during Odette in December 2021.
He said Odette directly made landfall in Cebu while Betty has a thin chance of doing so.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, May 26, the eye of the tropical cyclone was located 1,705 kilometers east of southeastern Luzon, with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour near the center, gusts of up to 260 km/h, and central pressure of 905 hPa.
Pagasa said Betty was moving west at 20 km/h. It is packing strong to typhoon-force winds that may extend outwards up to 550 kilometers from the center.
“Betty will begin to decelerate on Sunday as it begins to move closer towards the waters east of extreme northern Luzon. The center of Betty’s eye is forecast to be within 250 kilometers of the Batanes-Babuyan archipelago by next week during the slowdown period,” said the weather bureau.
Pagasa added that Betty will reach its peak intensity within 24 hours.
“The super typhoon may slightly weaken by tomorrow evening but is expected to remain as a super typhoon until Monday morning due to the highly favorable environment,” it said. (AML / LMY)