MANILA (UPDATE) - Typhoon Mangkhut has intensified into a supertyphoon, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said Tuesday.If that U.S. Navy-Air Force estimate is correct those are 190 mph gusts which is pretty high, not world record or anything but pretty high.
It is currently packing 250 kilometers per hour maximum sustained winds and gusts reaching 306 kph, according to one-minute readings made by the U.S. Navy-Air Force command based in Hawaii.
State weather bureau PAGASA, however, said the storm is only packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kph with gusts of up to 225 kph.
As of 3 p.m., Mangkhut was located 1,650 km east of Southern Luzon, outside the Philippine area of responsibility, according to state weather bureau PAGASA.
It is forecast to enter PAR on Wednesday afternoon if it continues to move west at 30 kph.
The storm will be named Ompong once it enters PAR.
The typhoon remains on track to threaten Northern Luzon and may traverse the Cagayan - Batanes area.
It is expected to enhance the southwest monsoon, bringing scattered light to moderate rains over Zamboanga peninsula”, Western Visayas, and Palawan starting Thursday.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Tuesday morning already raised the highest alert in a 3-step system as Mangkhut continues towards PAR....MORE
The PAR is the Philippines Area of Responsibility
