Pacific tropical cyclone activity remained elevated in 2026

NASA said tropical cyclone activity in the Northwest Pacific Basin had been elevated since April 2026, when Sinlaku reached super typhoon strength and battered Micronesia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Twenty-five named storms later, activity remained high in late October.

The EPIC camera on the DSCOVR satellite captured Super Typhoon In-fa near the Mariana Islands on October 29, 2026. At the same time, the remnants of Typhoon Champi approached Alaska amid other storms moving across the Bering Sea. In-fa was the fifth typhoon to affect the Mariana Islands this year.

The MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite captured In-fa on October 30, when the storm was just west of the island chain. In-fa had the nearly circular shape and large eye associated with annular storms. The announcement said annular storms account for 4 percent of tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific. Their eyes average about 45 kilometers (30 miles) in diameter, compared to about 25 kilometers for standard tropical cyclones.

Champi’s remnants underwent extratropical transition after entering the Bering Sea storm track. Gary Partyka, a meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said the transition expanded the storm’s wind field without necessarily making the winds stronger. Partyka said Champi became intertwined with and helped intensify another system over the Bering Sea.

Champi achieved maximum sustained winds of nearly 300 kilometers (185 miles) per hour. The storm brought damaging winds and intense rain to Taiwan, Guam, parts of China, and Japan. Its remnants brought high winds and heavy rain and snowfall to parts of Alaska. NASA reported that the state avoided the catastrophic damage seen after ex-typhoon Halong struck in October 2025.

Champi was the fourth ex-typhoon to enter Alaskan waters this year, following Bang-Lang in August, Dujuan in September, and Choi-wan in early October. Partyka described 2026 as a particularly active year for Pacific tropical cyclones and said the strong El Niño underway was a likely contributor. Roughly 60 ex-typhoons have affected Alaska since 1970.