Super Typhoon Champi Strengthens as Taiwan Prepares for Heavy Rain

Super Typhoon Champi has strengthened into a Category 5-equivalent storm over the western Pacific, while a change in its projected path has reduced the likelihood of a direct hit on Taiwan but left northern and eastern areas facing heavy rain. Forecasts issued October 19, 2026, indicated the storm would turn northward near Japan's Ishigaki Island as emergency agencies continued assessing the impact of its earlier passage near Guam.

The U.S. National Weather Service reported that Champi had reached maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (258 kph) by late Monday in Asia, while the FOX Forecast Center reported winds of up to 185 mph as the system intensified. The storm had moved into the Philippine Sea and was no longer near land, according to the Associated Press report published by NBC News.

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said Champi had strengthened and expanded over the preceding 12 hours. Forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen reported sustained winds of 198 kilometers per hour near the storm's center on Monday afternoon, with the weakening of a Pacific high-pressure system expected to steer it north earlier than previously forecast.

Cheng said the storm could pass northeastern Taiwan as a strong moderate typhoon or a weak intense typhoon under Taiwan's classification system. The agency could issue a sea warning as early as Wednesday night or Thursday, followed by a land warning on Thursday evening or Friday, depending on the storm's development.

Northern Taiwan and Yilan were forecast to face heavy or extremely heavy rain on Friday and Saturday. Scattered showers were expected in Yilan and areas north of Hsinchu on Wednesday, while rain would continue in northern and northeastern areas as Champi approached on Thursday. Most regions were forecast to return to cloudy or clear conditions on Sunday, although showers could persist in eastern Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula.

Champi passed close to Guam over the weekend, with its eye moving about 10 miles from the island's southern tip. The storm brought conditions equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane, with wind gusts reaching 150 mph, but avoided a direct landfall.

Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said damage on the island was minimal. However, the governors of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands requested emergency disaster declarations on Friday, and U.S. President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Guam.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said federal assistance was available to supplement Guam's local response. Airports, harbors and some health facilities across the territories were closed, and relief supplies were not expected to arrive for three to five days, FEMA said Saturday.

Forecasters expected Champi to continue producing strong winds, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms as it tracked northwest toward East Asia. The Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa and northern Taiwan remained among the areas facing potential impacts later in the week, although the revised forecast placed the storm on a path farther from Taiwan than previously anticipated.

Separately, the FOX Forecast Center was monitoring Invest 94E, a tropical disturbance several hundred miles south of southern Mexico. The system was expected to develop into at least a tropical depression over the following two days as unusually warm eastern Pacific waters supported tropical development amid a strengthening El Niño pattern.

The forecast center said models disagreed on the disturbance's eventual track and timing, with an initial northwestward movement potentially followed by a turn toward Mexico. If the system became a named storm, it would be called Tropical Storm Vance.

Meanwhile, former hurricane Trudy weakened to a tropical storm early Monday after bringing rain and winds to parts of Mexico's Pacific coast. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported sustained winds of 60 mph (100 kph) as Trudy moved west at 6 mph (9 kph), with its center forecast to pass south of the Baja California Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday. Additional rain remained possible in areas where repeated storms had saturated the ground.