MANILA — Super typhoon Mawar will enhance the southwest monsoon or "habagat", which could bring rains to parts of the country starting this weekend, the state weather bureau said on Wednesday.

Mawar was last seen 2,215 kilometers east of Visayas at 3 a.m., packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour near the center and 230 kph gusts, PAGASA said.

It may enter the Philippine area of responsibility on Friday or Saturday and will be named Betty, said PAGASA weather specialist Obet Badrina.

While the super typhoon is unlikely to directly hit the Philippines, it may come close Cagayan or Batanes province and the Babuyan Islands in northern Luzon, PAGASA weather forecaster Ana Clauren-Jorda told ABS-CBN TeleRadyo.

Mawar may also strengthen the habagat, which could bring rains to the western section of the country from Sunday or Monday, Badrina said.

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Local governments in northern Luzon are expected to conduct preemptive evacuation, especially for those in coastal towns and areas prone to floods and landslides, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesperson Assistant Secretary Bernardito Rafaelito Alejandro IV said.

But the NDRRMC is also warning other coastal towns in the country to brace themselves for the effects of the super typhoon, he said.

"As far as Bicol po inaalerto natin sila, kasi yung effect po sa coastal community natin dahil super typhoon, magkakaroon po ito ng mga alon," Alejandro explained.

"Siyempre yung mga fisherfolk natin apektado, ika-cancel natin yang mga paglalayag nila," he noted.

(We are alerting coastal communities as far as Bicol because this is a super typhoon, this will create large waves. Our fisherfolk will be affected. We will need to temporarily ban fishing trips.)

In the meantime, Zamboanga Peninsula, the Bangsamoro Region, and Palawan will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms due to the southwesterly wind flow and localized thunderstorms on Wednesday, PAGASA said.

A frontal system will bring cloudy skies with rains in Batanes and Babuyan Islands, said the weather agency.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms, it added.

Around 10 to 14 cyclones could form in the Philippine area between May and October, PAGASA earlier said.

Visit the ABS-CBN Weather Center for updates.