Western Pacific: Super Typhoon Dolphin Could Become Strongest in 2026

Strongest Storm in 2026?

The latest storm news from the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), puts Typhoon Dolphin south-southeast of Wake Island, moving west-northwest at a speed of 15 km/h with forecasts that it will strengthen into a super typhoon with maximum winds of up to about 305 km/h on July 31.

In the process of rapid intensification, this latest storm of the 2026 hurricane season may surpass Hurricane Sinlaku to become the strongest storm in the world this year, on par with Hurricane Nepartak in 2016 in terms of the strength of the strongest July tropical storm of the 21st century. Super Typhoon Dolphin could even approach the intensity of Hurricane Wanda in 1956 – the strongest July storm in history according to the JTWC.

However, Typhoon Dolphin is not expected to pose any threat to any land area in the next seven days, although it’s forecast track could see it impact Japan’s southern islands in early August.

The project path of Super Typhoon Dolphin from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Northern Marianas Cleaning Up after Super Typhoon Bavi

After inspecting the damage on Rota Island, Mayor (of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for the Municipality of Rota) Aubry Hocog said the devastation extended beyond homes to government buildings and public facilities.

In a report from Radio New Zealand Mayor Hocog said: “I would even say more than like 50 percent of our island has undergone damages and it could be more.”

“Many residents living in concrete homes still lost tin-roofed kitchens, awnings and extensions, while numerous homes with tin roofs were either heavily damaged or destroyed.

Hocog said officials were working to restore water supplies as quickly as possible, but power restoration, was expected to take much longer after utility poles and power lines were extensively damaged across the island.

Three Storms in the Pacific

Typhoon Dolphin was one of three storms churning across the Pacific Ocean in the last week of July fueled by exceptionally warm ocean waters linked to an already record-breaking El Niño and a huge marine heat wave according to a report in the Washington Post.

Tropical Storm Fausto was weakening about 340 miles east of Hawaii. It’s expected to pass north of the islands but will bring dangerous surf and rip currents through Wednesday.
Hurricane Genevieve was a powerful Category 4 storm in the open waters of the eastern Pacific. It’s not expected to directly affect land but will cause big ocean swells in California, where the National Weather Service in Los Angeles is warning of “potentially deadly rip currents.” The heat that Genevieve is releasing will also help power a heat dome near the West Coast this weekend.
Typhoon Dolphin was swirling in the central Pacific north of the Marshall Islands. This weekend, it’s forecast to pass well north of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands — which were hit by Super Typhoon Bavi earlier this month. Dolphin is forecast to strengthen into a super typhoon and could head toward Japan next week.

Active Storms in the North Pacific Ocean in the last week of July. Image from Zoom Earth.

…………………………………

Related News:

…………………………………

Comments