In-fa will be the 5th typhoon to affect Guam and Mariana Islands this year
The 5th typhoon this year is set to impact the northern Mariana Islands this week, after Super Typhoon Champi 10 days ago.
The center of the storm passed just miles south of Guam on Oct. 18. Luckily, residents were spared from greater damage.
Super Typhoon In-fa is barreling across the western Pacific Ocean and moving toward the Mariana Islands, which were impacted by Super Typhoon Champi just last week.
Where is Typhoon In-fa tracking now?
Typhoon In-fa is now the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane (110 mph or 178 km/h) and is southwest of Wake Island, moving west.
AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls says that Super Typhoon In-fa is well east-northeast of Guam and is moving west. Some fluctuation in intensity is expected through Friday, local time. The westerly track will continue into Thursday, then a dip in the jet stream swinging through Japan will pull In-fa on a more northerly trajectory Friday and Saturday, local time. This feature will cause In-fa to slow or stall for a time this weekend into early next week, local time. The storm is a Category 3 equivalent on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
This track will bring In-fa, as a Category 4 equivalent on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, near or over the Northern Mariana Islands with flooding rains and damaging winds Friday into Saturday, local time.
Most guidance suggests In-fa will not be captured by the dip in the jet stream, resulting in it drifting west or northwest early next week before being steered northeastward. There is a chance a new dip in the jet stream next week will be slower and weaker, allowing In-fa to track westward toward the Philippines.
Champi became the strongest storm this year after damaging Guam
Last Wednesday, Champi tied Super Typhoon Sinlaku for the highest winds, 185-mph one-minute sustained winds, measured in any tropical cyclone on Earth this year.
Typhoon Champi on Oct. 21, 2026.
On Friday and Saturday, Typhoon Champi slammed into Taiwan. One person was killed by waves, and over 600 were injured, Focus Taiwan reported. More than 340,000 customers lost power, and over 9,000 damage reports were issued, including over 3,000 infrastructure damage reports. Over 2 feet of rain fell in Yilan County.
A temporary structure built for a traditional Taoist religious ceremony lies collapsed due to strong winds from Typhoon Champi in Keelung on October 24, 2026. Champi dumped heavy rain, toppled trees and knocked out power to thousands of households as it swept past Taiwan's northeast on the way to China and Japan. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images)
In-fa will be fifth typhoon to affect the Mariana Islands this year
Prior to that, Champi passed within 12 miles of Guam's southern tip on Oct. 18. While the eye's core of extreme winds remained mostly offshore, it was close enough to cause damage to homes and knock down trees on the island.
Guam is the largest island in the chain, with 150,000 residents, but the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) spans 14 islands. All north of Guam, they total a population of around 50,000, most of whom live on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
In-fa will be the fifth typhoon to impact the islands this year, Nicholls said. The last season to have five typhoons impacting the Mariana Islands was in 2015. The record-holder is 1997, a season in which six typhoons affected the islands.
Super Typhoon Sinlaku hit Saipan on April 14, followed by Super Typhoon Bavi on July 6, which made landfall on Rota, then Super Typhoon Champi on Oct. 18.
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