Super Typhoon Champi churned in the Philippine Sea this week with sustained winds reaching 185 miles per hour, making it the strongest storm on the planet in 2026 according to forecasters. The system is tracking northwest toward the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa and northern Taiwan, threatening coastal East Asia with ferocious winds and intense rainfall.
How The Joint Typhoon Warning Center Defines A Super Typhoon
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center classifies typhoons in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean with wind speeds of at least 130 knots as super typhoons, the equivalent of a strong Category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Since 1947, 317 super typhoons have occurred in the basin, with Typhoon Champi marking the latest in 2026. Only two Pacific typhoon seasons have not included at least one super typhoon, which were the 1949 and the 1974 seasons. The most typhoons to reach this intensity in a single season is tied between 1965 and 1997, with 11 becoming super typhoons.
The first typhoon identified as a super typhoon by the JTWC was Typhoon Rosalind in 1947, a high-end Category 4-equivalent storm. Four years later, Typhoon Iris in 1951 became the first Category 5-equivalent typhoon referred to as a super typhoon. The strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded was Typhoon Tip in 1979, while the costliest was Typhoon Doksuri in 2023. The deadliest was Typhoon Nina during the extremely deadly 1975 Pacific typhoon season, and the longest-lived was Typhoon Rita in 1972.
Warm Waters And The Madden–Julian Oscillation Drive Rapid Intensification
Tropical cyclones occur much more often in the Western Pacific because it has the warmest sea surface temperatures, which tropical cyclones need to thrive. Sufficient sea surface temperatures and the frequent passing of the Madden–Julian oscillation allow these cyclones to quickly intensify and blossom into violent storms. To be considered a typhoon or a hurricane, a cyclone must achieve wind speeds of at least 74 mph.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Pacific cyclones occurring west of the international date line are considered typhoons, while those occurring east of that border are categorized as hurricanes. This geographic distinction places the warmest ocean basin squarely in the typhoon zone, creating a persistent engine for high-intensity systems like Champi.
Pacific Activity Dwarfs Atlantic And Eastern Pacific Trends In 2026
The typhoon underscores how tumultuous Pacific storm activity has been in comparison with activity in the Atlantic. In the North Atlantic, 2026’s strongest storm so far was Hurricane Isaias, which had maximum winds of about 120 mph, according to Colorado State University’s cyclone database. By contrast, in the northeastern Pacific, September’s Hurricane Polo hit wind speeds of about 178 mph, while in the northwestern Pacific, April’s Typhoon Sinlaku and July’s Typhoon Bavi also reached around the same strength. Champi is the 25th northwestern Pacific storm this year, according to CSU’s tracker.
The Atlantic has been unusually quiet. Hurricane Isaias was the first storm of its kind for the season, setting a record for the latest-forming first Atlantic hurricane since reliable record-keeping began. Meanwhile the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean have seen an unusually high number of hurricanes this season. These divergent trends highlight the basin-specific nature of tropical cyclone climatology.
El Niño Shifts The Global Balance Of Cyclone Energy
Those trends are driven in part by El Niño, a climate pattern that influences weather across the globe. During El Niño years, hurricane activity tends to slow in the Atlantic and pick up in parts of the Pacific. The Pacific basin remains active amid a brewing Super El Niño, with warm waters conducive for tropical development. Forecast models suggest the system could initially move northwest before turning back slightly toward Mexico, as seen with Tropical Depression Twenty-Two-E forming in the eastern Pacific.
A strong Tehuantepecer wind event along southern Mexico could also help eastern Pacific systems strengthen and organize. These powerful offshore winds force cooler air through the Chivela Pass, a gap in the mountains of southern Mexico, helping concentrate moisture and encourage a disturbance to organize into a tropical depression or storm. The simultaneous activity in both the western and eastern Pacific basins illustrates the broad reach of the current El Niño signal.
Record Intensity Numbers Test Coastal Infrastructure Limits
Super Typhoon Champi reached wind speeds of about 185 miles per hour in the Philippine Sea, tying Super Typhoon Sinlaku as the strongest storm in any basin this year. As of Wednesday morning EST, Super Typhoon Champi had winds of 175 miles per hour; it is expected to weaken in the next day or so, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The storm is currently about 430 nautical miles south of Kadena Air Base in Japan and is heading northwest, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Typhoon Champi quickly swept through Guam over the weekend with the equivalent of a Category 4 storm, packing wind gusts as strong as 150 mph. The eye of the typhoon passed just 10 miles off the southern tip of the island, avoiding a destructive landfall. Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said there was minimal damage on the island. During this phase, the storm underwent an eyewall replacement cycle and slightly weakened on Sunday before restrengthening. Champi’s forecast track is expected to curve northwest towards Eastern Asia, with other locations such as the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa and northern Taiwan under threat later this week as the storm intensifies.
Historical Benchmarks for Super Typhoons
Since the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began classifying super typhoons in 1947, several storms have set historical benchmarks. Typhoon Tip in 1979 remains the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded, while Typhoon Doksuri in 2023 holds the title of the costliest. The deadliest super typhoon was Typhoon Nina during the 1975 Pacific typhoon season, and the longest-lived was Typhoon Rita in 1972. Additionally, Typhoon Karen in January 1948 was the earliest-forming super typhoon on record.
The 1965 and 1997 Pacific typhoon seasons are tied for the most super typhoons in a single year, with 11 storms reaching this intensity. Conversely, only two seasons—1949 and 1974—have not included at least one super typhoon. These benchmarks highlight the variability and extreme nature of super typhoons in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, where warm sea surface temperatures and atmospheric conditions frequently foster rapid intensification.
Sources
- List of super typhoons
- Super Typhoon Champi sets the record for strongest storm of 2026
- Future Tropical Storm Vance emerges in the Pacific as Champi becomes strongest storm on Earth this year
Photo: Nethmi Gunasekera (CC BY-SA 4.0)
