Super Typhoon Sinlaku bears down on Northern Mariana Islands, Guam

Slow-moving Sinlaku is weakening as it heads towards Guam, but it will still dangerous conditions to the region.Super Typhoon Sinlaku is closing in on the remote Mariana Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean, where the massive storm system is due to bring destructive winds and heavy rains.Sinlaku, which formed on April 9, is the strongest storm of 2026, so far, and saw sustained winds of 278 km/hour (173 mph) on Monday, according to The Associated Press (AP) news agency.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Hezbollah leader urges Lebanon’s government to pull out of Israel talkslist 2 of 4Anti-war protesters arrested in New York urging end to Israel weapon saleslist 3 of 4Man charged with attempted murder after attack on OpenAI CEO Altman’s homelist 4 of 4US military kills two men in new strike on vessel in eastern Pacificend of listThe super storm was approximately 68 nautical miles (126km) southeast of the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands at about midday on Tuesday local time (02:00 GMT), and is moving at a slow pace of about 14 km/hour (9 mph), according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning System.While Sinlaku appears to be weakening and could pass by the Northern Mariana Islands with the strength of a Category 4 or Category 5 storm, it still remains extremely dangerous, according to Guam’s Office of Civil Defence, with warnings of widespread rain and flooding along with destructive winds that could cause power outages.It appears Guam will avoid a direct hit from Sinlaku, the Civil Defence Office said, although the island will still encounter high winds of up to 64 to 80 km/hour (40 to 50 mph) and gusts of up to 105 km/hour (65 mph)“Guam remains under both a tropical storm warning and a typhoon watch. While the threat of typhoon-force winds has significantly diminished for Guam, this remains a serious weather event,” the office said, warning that storm conditions will continue into Wednesday.This satellite image provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows super typhoon Sinlakua in the Pacific Ocean, Monday [NOAA via AP]The office also warned the island’s 170,000 residents to stay out of the water, as dangerous sea conditions are expected to last until Thursday.