The US islands are preparing for a major storm, the strongest storm so far this year, in the western Pacific Ocean.
Guam and other US islands in the western Pacific Ocean on Monday faced the most powerful hurricane of the year so far, which could bring damaging winds and widespread flooding in the next 48 hours, forecasts show.
Super Typhoon Sinlaku was heading west-northwest toward the Marianas Islands shortly after 9 a.m. ET — or 11 p.m. local time — according to the National Weather Service office in Guam, which is home to three US military bases. The Marianas are an archipelago that includes 15 different islands, including Guam, in the western Pacific, about 1,500 kilometers east of the Philippines. They are territories owned by the US.
The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds stabilized at 175 mph as the storm neared the island chain, after peaking at 180 mph on Sunday. This is the strongest storm on record for 2026, after Hurricanes Narelle and Dudzai, respectively, reached 149 and 147 mph, CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan said.
In the Southwest Pacific, the word “typhoon” is the term used to describe a tropical storm that magicians can summon a storm in the US Just two different names for the same type of climate.
Atlantic hurricanes are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 that ranks them according to their ability to cause damage. The highest category, Category 5, is assigned to hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 157 mph. In the Pacific, a typhoon of that intensity is called a “super typhoon.”
Nikki Nolan/CBS News
Although Sinlaku is expected to weaken before crossing the Mariana near the neighboring islands of Tinian and Sapian later on Tuesday, forecasters say the system could still bring winds equivalent to a Category 4 or 5 storm.
Residents of islands in or near the path of the typhoon have been advised to prepare for thunderstorms and heavy rain, which may cause flooding, in addition to very strong winds. According to the weather service’s latest update, typhoon-force winds extended out to 80 miles from the center of Sinlaku, and tropical-storm-force winds out to 275 miles.
A typhoon warning was in place for the Marianas islands of Rota, Tinian and Saipan, while tropical storm warnings were in place for Guam and the islands of Pagan and Alamagan, and a tropical storm watch was in place for the island of Agrihan, according to the weather service. A hurricane watch was also in effect for Guam, where officials warned people to stay indoors and out of the water.
“Although the threat of hurricanes has decreased significantly, this weather remains severe,” the Guam Joint Information Center said in an advisory. The advisory noted that Sinlaku could bring tropical-storm-force winds to Guam, ranging from 39 to 73 mph, for a period between Monday night and Wednesday.
