Pacific Typhoon Bavi is heading toward the US-owned Mariana Islands, including Guam, home to 170,000 people. As noted by the local branch of the US National Weather Service (NWS), wind speeds in the area of bad weather have already reached 145 mph (almost 65 m/s) and by Monday Bavi could become a so-called Category 5 super typhoon.
Residents of the islands are expected to feel the first effects of the approaching typhoon on Friday. Rain and thunderstorms will continue over the next two days on all four islands of the archipelago. It is expected that the main impact of the disaster will occur on Monday night.
Guam is home to two American military bases and is called the place where the day begins in the United States, notes the Associated Press (AP). The island is the westernmost point of the country and lies on the other side of the internationally recognized date line.
Guam already experienced super typhoon Sinlaku last April and has not fully recovered from its consequences, the agency adds. There were no casualties on the ground, but some residents who lost their homes continue to sleep in tents.
Bavi is currently 535 miles (860 kilometers) from Guam and within 500 miles of two other islands, the NWS said. He was assigned the 4th strength category out of five possible.
It was considered a tropical storm on Wednesday but quickly intensified into a typhoon, the equivalent of an Atlantic hurricane, the Weather Channel said. The channel adds that after the Mariana Islands, Bavi can continue moving towards the Japanese Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and the eastern coast of China.
Meteorologists note that increased cyclonic activity in the Pacific Ocean may be associated with the development of the El Niño phenomenon this year. The formation of this warm air flow was reported to the NWS in June, and on Friday, July 3, the information was confirmed by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The WMO noted that El Niño activity in the Pacific Ocean could peak between November and February next year.
“El Niño conditions have emerged and will rapidly intensify in the coming months, increasing the likelihood of heat waves, drought, heavy rainfall and other extreme weather in various regions of the world,” UN meteorologists said.
