According to the latest storm news from the US National Weather Service (NWS), Sinlaku is an "extremely dangerous super typhoon". The storm reached Category 5 on April 13, with maximum winds of about 275 km/h.
In Guam, about 177km southwest of the storm center, maximum gusts of 135 km/h were recorded on April 14. In Saipan - the capital of Northern Mariana, gusts reached 174 km/h.
It is noteworthy that the appearance of a strong super typhoon at this time of year in the northwest Pacific is unusually early and may be a sign of an upcoming severe typhoon season.
This year's storm season is forecast to be unusually active due to the formation of El Nino, causing sea temperatures to rise. This causes the air to rise more strongly, thereby creating more and stronger storms.
The US National Weather Service in Guam said: "Sinlaku is forecast to gradually weaken in the next few days, but can still pass through the Mariana Islands with intensity level 4 or 5".
As the first storm in 2026, Sinlaku started from a weak low pressure area about 400km southeast of Chuuk on April 8, then quickly strengthened into a tropical storm. From April 11 to 12, the storm intensified extremely rapidly from level 1 to level 5 in just over 30 hours.
Sinlaku is considered to have perfect atmospheric conditions in the most dangerous way. For such a strong storm to form, it needs to simultaneously converge 4 factors:
Extremely warm sea water: Temperature from about 30-32 degrees C, providing a huge source of energy for storms.
Weak wind gusts: Wind changes according to altitude can break the storm structure; for a strong storm, the environment must be relatively stable.
Humid air: Invasive dry air may weaken the storm from within - something that has not happened with Sinlaku.
Upward divergence: Air in the upper layers spreads to help attract more warm and humid air from below, adding energy to the storm.
Each year, only about 0.05% of the Earth's surface area experiences such a fierce "level 5 eye storm" zone.
Satellite images show that Sinlaku is a real "monster": Storm eyes are dry and clear - signs of extreme intensity. The strongest storms usually have the clearest eye.
Sinlaku is forecast to gradually shift northward and weaken as it enters the northwest Pacific region.
Sinlaku is the third storm in a rare series of 3 storms appearing at the same time this month. The remaining two storms Maila and Vaianu devastated Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Zealand in the southern Pacific.
Typhoon Maila caused widespread damage in remote areas in eastern Papua New Guinea, described as one of the "worst natural disasters recently", killing 11 people.
The phenomenon of 3 storms forming simultaneously also contributes to promoting strong winds, increasing the possibility of forming a super El Nino later this year, when warm water moves from the west to the east Pacific.
This could lead to a particularly intense storm season in the western Pacific, putting areas such as Guam, northern Philippines, Taiwan (China), China and Japan at higher risk of storms.
