Super Typhoon Champi Nears Category 5 After Narrow Miss of Guam

By
Harris
-
42

Key Points

  • Super Typhoon Champi had 155 mph winds about 410 miles west of Guam on Monday and could reach Category 5 by Monday night local time, the National Weather Service said.
  • The storm’s eye passed about 10 miles south of Guam’s southern tip early Sunday local time, sparing the U.S. territory a direct hit.
  • Guam declared the all clear Sunday evening; power and water were returning Monday, and schools stayed closed.
  • President Trump approved emergency declarations for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, letting FEMA coordinate federal help.
  • Forecasters expect Champi to pass near Japan’s Sakishima Islands and approach Taiwan around Oct. 23 to 24, but the long-range track is uncertain.

Super Typhoon Champi is closing in on Category 5 strength over the Philippine Sea, a day after its eye slipped just south of Guam. The National Weather Service said Monday that Champi’s sustained winds had reached 155 mph, 2 mph below the Category 5 threshold.

On Guam, a U.S. territory of more than 150,000 people, the focus has shifted from riding out the storm to restoring power and water.

What happened

Champi’s eye passed about 10 miles south of Guam’s southern tip at 4:26 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, Chamorro Standard Time (2:26 p.m. EDT Saturday), The Guam Daily Post reported, citing the weather service. Sustained winds were near 150 mph at the time, the high end of Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

Because the strongest winds were packed tightly around a small eye, most of Guam got tropical-storm-force winds with typhoon-force gusts. Airport gusts reached 80 to 85 mph, the Post reported.

“It’s really hard to underscore how close this was to being a significant and devastating event for portions of Guam,” Brandon Aydlett, science and operations officer at NWS Tiyan, told the Post.

Island-wide power went out shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, the Pacific Daily News reported. Damage was real but localized. Post photographers documented roofs torn from pavilions in Humåtak, roofing panels ripped from Paseo Stadium in Hagåtña and boats partly submerged by storm surge in Malesso’. Aydlett said preliminary reports showed “no widespread significant damage,” with far southern Guam still to be assessed.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero declared Condition of Readiness 4, the all clear, at 6 p.m. Sunday (4 a.m. EDT Sunday). Her windshield survey found no significant ocean inundation, no collapsed buildings, no impassable roads and no mudslides, the Pacific Daily News reported, citing her office.

Latest development

In Advisory 19, issued at 2 p.m. ChST Monday (midnight EDT), NWS Tiyan said Champi “has been upgraded to a Super Typhoon.” At 1 p.m. ChST, the center was about 410 miles west of Guam, moving west at 12 mph. No watches or warnings remain for the Marianas.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts a peak near 145 knots, about 167 mph, over the next day and a half, and said the storm could exceed that over very warm water with low wind shear.

As of 7 a.m. Monday, Guam Power Authority had restored 90% of transmission lines and energized all 30 substations and, fully or partly, 47 of 67 distribution feeders, according to Guam’s Joint Information Center and the Marianas Business Journal. As of 10 a.m., about 1.5% of Guam Waterworks Authority customers had no water pressure, and no boil water notice was in effect, the JIC said.

Government offices reopened Monday while schools and the University of Guam stayed closed, the JIC said, and the airport was operating normally, according to the Business Journal. A high surf advisory for Guam and Rota runs until 4 a.m. ChST Tuesday (2 p.m. EDT Monday), and NWS issued a flood advisory for heavy showers through 6 p.m. ChST Monday.

Why it matters

Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are U.S. territories, and Guam is home to Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam. President Trump approved emergency declarations for Guam and for Rota, Saipan and Tinian in the CNMI. FEMA said the declarations, posted Oct. 17, authorize federal resources for emergency protective measures at 75% federal funding.

The near miss caps a punishing year. Champi is the third typhoon to hit the islands since April, after Super Typhoon Sinlaku on April 14 and Super Typhoon Bavi on July 6, the American Red Cross said. More than 1,000 people used 15 shelters on four islands, and the Red Cross found no residential damage on Saipan or Tinian.

“This has been an incredibly difficult year for our islands,” CNMI Gov. David Apatang said, according to RNZ.

What happens next

JTWC expects Champi to keep moving west-northwest, then slow and turn more to the north midweek, on a path just east of Taiwan. The Japan Meteorological Agency expects the storm to pass near Japan’s Sakishima Islands between Oct. 23 and the morning of Oct. 24 local time, then approach the vicinity of Taiwan, Weathernews reported.

Confidence drops after about three days. JTWC said computer models split between a track over central Taiwan and a curve north between Taiwan and Okinawa. It forecasts gradual weakening as the storm slows over cooler water, to about 86 mph by 8 p.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 23.

NWS Tiyan’s next advisory is due at 8 p.m. ChST Monday (6 a.m. EDT). The Red Cross plans Emergency Family Assistance Centers at Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam on Tuesday.

Related live coverage

Follow storm updates on our U.S. Weather Live center, and find national news channels streaming on the LiveNewsWorld Watch Live hub.

Sources