SAIPAN — The National Weather Service delivered its most reassuring assessment yet for the southern Marianas on Thursday morning, telling Good Morning Marianas that worry over Tropical Storm Saudel “should be pretty minimal” for Guam, Rota and Saipan as the storm trends farther north, while urging residents of the far Northern Islands to keep close track of it.
“For Guam, Rota and Saipan, the worry should be pretty minimal. It’s been trending for a while, but it’s going to head farther north,” Paul Stanko, acting science and operations officer at the weather service’s Guam office, said in a live interview on the program. “Now, for the people in the far northern Marianas, they’re going to need to keep more careful track of it.”
The main effect for the populated southern islands will come from the storm’s south side, Stanko said, where monsoon air flowing into the system will bring rainy and breezy conditions, especially next week. “It’ll be rainy and breezy, but damaging winds, those would be extremely unlikely,” he said. “This one is not going to be a big deal for you.”
Asked about the days ahead, Stanko said sunshine should hold through Friday. “For today and tomorrow, sunscreen might be useful. After that, the clouds will be building back in.”
Stanko also flagged what may come after Saudel: the Global Tropical Hazards Outlook carries a 40 percent chance of another tropical cyclone forming in the region behind the current storm. “Saudel is probably not the end of it,” he said. “But for the next several days, Guam, Rota and Saipan should be fairly safe.”
The assessment lands as the Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts Saudel to begin rapidly intensifying Thursday afternoon, reach typhoon strength Friday and pass closest to the Northern Islands at near-peak intensity late Saturday, with Saipan’s closest approach holding near 140 nautical miles. No tropical storm or typhoon watches or warnings are in effect for the Marianas, and the weather service’s standing guidance to plan and prepare while conditions are fair remains in place.
Stanko said the Guam office looks forward to returning to fuller staffing with warning coordination meteorologist Landon Aydlett due back from Chuuk, where he deployed ahead of the storm’s passage through the region.
