Typhoon Mawar weakens, still bringing wind, rain to Philippines
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Village welfare staff and volunteers pack relief goods prepared for possible typhoon evacuees in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on May 27.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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LUZON - Typhoon Mawar has weakened as it moved closer to the Philippines, but will still bring strong winds and rain, the state weather bureau said on Sunday.
Mawar was previously classified as a super typhoon.
It has maximum sustained winds of 165kmh near its centre, and gusts of up to 205kmh, the bureau said in its latest bulletin.
It is expected to gradually weaken until Tuesday.
Several areas in the northern Philippines have been placed under the lowest wind alert, and some residents have been evacuated.
The typhoon is still forecast to bring heavy rains to western areas, with floods and landslides likely.
Because the country gives its own names to typhoons that enter its so-called area of responsibility, a large area of the Western North Pacific, the storm is known locally as Betty.
Days earlier, Mawar brought damaging winds and rain to the US island territory of Guam.
As Mawar continues to head north, then north-east, the impact on Taiwan, China and South Korea could be minimal.
Depending on the timing of other weather systems in the area, the storm could instead track farther west towards Taiwan or north-west towards Japan.
Those developments would not come until later in the week and into next weekend, and a lot could change in the atmosphere within that time frame.
As the storm moves north, whether towards or away from Japan, it is expected to weaken as it encounters cooler waters. BLOOMBERG, NYTIMES
