SAIPAN — The forecast track for Typhoon Sinlaku shifted significantly overnight, with the Joint Typhoon Warning Center’s 7 a.m. Sunday track now showing the storm passing directly over Rota as a Category 4 typhoon, National Weather Service meteorologist-in-charge Brandon Aydlett said Sunday morning.
The latest forecast briefly achieves super typhoon status at 150 mph as Sinlaku closes in on the Marianas Monday night into Tuesday.
“Last night we are looking at a Rota channel type of passage, and now this latest forecast track as of seven o’clock this morning from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center shows a passage over Rota as a Category 4 typhoon,” Aydlett said. “So that threat for the worst conditions has increased for Rota. But the threat has also increased for Tinian and Saipan.”
Aydlett said the track shift north of Guam means Guam is no longer the primary target, but cautioned that all four Marianas islands remain within the cone of uncertainty and no island should stand down.
“It is not over until it is on the other side of our islands,” he said.
The timing of impacts has shifted slightly later. Aydlett said the window of tropical cyclone conditions is now expected from Monday evening through Wednesday evening. Seas associated with the system will reach 25 to 35 feet.
The latest forecast briefly achieves super typhoon status at 150 mph as Sinlaku closes in on the Marianas.
“What is the difference between 140 and 150 miles per hour when you’re looking at the human effects of things, the infrastructure, the vegetation?” Aydlett said. “It’s going to be a serious system. Don’t take it lightly. Tinian, Saipan, keep a close eye. Guam, don’t let your guard down.”
NWS is expanding weather balloon releases from twice daily to four times daily to improve model accuracy. Aydlett said all available staff will be at the Guam office as conditions deteriorate, with forecasters rotating shifts and hot-bunking through the storm.
