By PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

Typhoon “Karen,” while it maintain its strength and speed, is expected to be out of Philippine Area of Responsibilty (PAR) on Saturday evening or early morning Sunday, the state weather bureau said.

Weather forecaster Fernando Cada said that as of 4 p.m. Saturday, typhoon Karen was located at 680 kilometers northeast of Itbayat, Batanes or 630 km east of Taiwan (22.7°N, 128.9°E), packed with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 220 kph.

Cada said Karen was moving North Northwest at 19 kph towards Japan.

He said that there was no storm signal raised and no other weather disturbance seen near the Philippines.

Cada also said that “Karen” would continue to enhance the southwest monsoon that would bring moderate to heavy rains over Ilocos, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Central Luzon, which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

In its advisory as of 4 p.m., Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomocial Services Administration said that Metro Manila would be cloudy with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms. Moderate to strong winds coming from the southwest and Manila Bay will be moderate to rough.

The weather agency added that Cagayan Region, the Bicol region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Western Visayas would be cloudy with scattered light to moderate rains.

Mindanao and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers and thunderstorms.