Super Typhoon Bavi has rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm over the weekend. The tropical cyclone has taken on classic features of a very strong typhoon. While the Atlantic hurricane season remains quiet, Bavi is the third Category 5 storm of 2026. At the time of writing Sunday morning, it is moving towards Guam and the northern Mariana Islands. Here are three things you need to know about Bavi right now.
Its Current Intensity
Let’s start with the latest information from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center as of early Sunday morning. Bavi has sustained winds near 166 miles per hour with gusts of 200 miles per hour. Minimum central pressure was near 919 millibars. Some models are estimating that the storm could reach maximum winds between 175 and 184 miles per hour. The storm will continue to track northwestward near the island of Rota and likely just north of Guam.
Why It Will Continue To Get Stronger
“Satellite imagery (MSI) depicts an extremely powerful Super Typhoon steadily approaching the Mariana Islands,” warned the JTWC. “The eye has cleared out, and gale-force winds now extend 170 nautical miles outward from the center,” they continued. Unfortunately atmospheric and ocean conditions are highly favorable for further intensification. What does that mean?” It means there is high ocean heat content, low vertical wind shear, sufficient moisture, and textbook outflow at the upper level of the storm. Forecast confidence is high for intensity and track over the next three days.
How It Comparies To Other 2026 Storms
Bavi is already one of the strongest storms on Earth in 2026 and the third Category 5 tropical cyclone of the year so far. It is important to remember that tropical cyclones happen in other ocean basins, but we tend to be Atlantic basin-centric in the U.S. Super Typhoon Sinlaku tracked just southeast of Guam with 185 mph winds in mid-April. “Sinkalu killed 17 and did about $1.5 billion in damage to the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam,” wrote Jeff Masters in Yale Climate Connections. Tropical Cyclone Horacio featured 160 mph winds over the southern Indian Ocean in February but never made landfall in a major area.
Bavi is already one of the strongest storms on Earth in 2026 and the third Category 5 tropical cyclone of the year so far. What were the other two Dr. Shepherd since the Atlantic has been quiet? It is important to remember that tropical cyclones happen in other ocean basins. Super Typhoon Sinlaku tracked just southeast of Guam with 185 mph winds in mid-April. “Sinkalu killed 17 and did about $1.5 billion in damage to the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam,” wrote Jeff Masters in Yale Climate Connections. Tropical Cyclone Horacio featured 160 mph winds over the southern Indian Ocean in February in February but never made landfall in a major area.