SAIPAN — Tropical Storm Higos continued moving west-northwest and away from Saipan and Tinian on Tuesday evening, though the CNMI Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management kept a Tropical Storm Warning and Tropical Storm Condition I in effect for both islands.
In Bulletin No. 2A, issued at 5:00 PM, the office said the storm was centered near 14.9 degrees north and 145.0 degrees east as of the 4:00 PM fix, putting it about 40 miles west of Tinian, 50 miles west-southwest of Saipan, 55 miles north-northwest of Rota and 100 miles north of Guam.
Higos was moving west-northwest at 10 miles per hour, a track it is expected to hold with a slight increase in forward speed through Wednesday. Maximum sustained winds held at 40 miles per hour, and the storm remained forecast to intensify through Wednesday. Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 80 miles from the center.
Governor David M. Apatang maintained Tropical Storm Condition I for Saipan and Tinian as of 5:00 PM, the office said. The warning means damaging winds of 39 miles per hour or more are occurring or will occur shortly.
The CNMI Emergency Operations Center State Warning Point said it would keep monitoring the storm and issuing bulletins. The next scheduled bulletin was set for 8:00 PM, followed by an intermediate bulletin at 11:00 PM. Residents were urged to stay informed through local media, NOAA Weather Radio by phone at 211, or by calling the State Warning Point at 237-8000 or 664-8000.
