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July 10, 2026 - Typhoon Bavi Heads to China
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In early July 2026, for the second time in three months, a powerful typhoon crossed the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in the North Pacific Ocean. Super Typhoon Bavi was at peak intensity when it neared the islands on the night of July 5, bringing winds of 290 kilometers (180 miles) per hour, along with torrential rain and dangerous storm surge. The eye of the storm passed directly over the island of Rota, north of Guam.
Bavi became a super typhoon in the early hours of July 4 local time while tracking west over the warm ocean. Satellite observations indicated that sea surface temperatures were around 30ºC (86ºF) in the region. Bavi was the third tropical cyclone in 2026 to reach Category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
The typhoon caused extensive damage across Guam, Rota, and Saipan, according to news reports, downing power poles and lines; flooding roads and littering them with debris; and damaging buildings, including a water distribution station on Rota. U.S. Coast Guard crews worked to clear navigation hazards in the waterways around Guam and the Northern Marianas and reopen ports as dangerous marine conditions subsided, according to reports. This damage comes on top of destructive winds and flooding from Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which crossed the islands in mid-April.
On July 9, Bavi remained a powerful typhoon as it moved west over the Philippine Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of the massive storm as it was tracking northwest towards eastern China. The island of Taiwan can be seen to the northwest of Typhoon Bavi and the northern Philippines lies to the west of the storm.
Near the time this image was captured, Typhoon Bavi carried maximum sustained winds of about 115 miles per hour (185 km/h), the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane. At 2100 UTC on July 9 (5:00 p.m. EDT), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) advised that Bavi’s maximum sustained winds had dropped to 104 miles per hour (167 km/h) (Category 2) and expected that the weakening trend would continue.
The JTWC forecasts that Typhoon Bavi will pass near Ishigakijima, an island in southern Japan, by the evening of July 10 before passing over the East China Sea north of Taiwan. Bavi is expected to make landfall over eastern China and then dissipate inland, likely by July 13.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 7/9/2026
Resolutions:
1km (986.3 KB), 500m (1.6 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
In early July 2026, for the second time in three months, a powerful typhoon crossed the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in the North Pacific Ocean. Super Typhoon Bavi was at peak intensity when it neared the islands on the night of July 5, bringing winds of 290 kilometers (180 miles) per hour, along with torrential rain and dangerous storm surge. The eye of the storm passed directly over the island of Rota, north of Guam.
Bavi became a super typhoon in the early hours of July 4 local time while tracking west over the warm ocean. Satellite observations indicated that sea surface temperatures were around 30ºC (86ºF) in the region. Bavi was the third tropical cyclone in 2026 to reach Category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
The typhoon caused extensive damage across Guam, Rota, and Saipan, according to news reports, downing power poles and lines; flooding roads and littering them with debris; and damaging buildings, including a water distribution station on Rota. U.S. Coast Guard crews worked to clear navigation hazards in the waterways around Guam and the Northern Marianas and reopen ports as dangerous marine conditions subsided, according to reports. This damage comes on top of destructive winds and flooding from Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which crossed the islands in mid-April.
On July 9, Bavi remained a powerful typhoon as it moved west over the Philippine Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of the massive storm as it was tracking northwest towards eastern China. The island of Taiwan can be seen to the northwest of Typhoon Bavi and the northern Philippines lies to the west of the storm.
Near the time this image was captured, Typhoon Bavi carried maximum sustained winds of about 115 miles per hour (185 km/h), the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane. At 2100 UTC on July 9 (5:00 p.m. EDT), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) advised that Bavi’s maximum sustained winds had dropped to 104 miles per hour (167 km/h) (Category 2) and expected that the weakening trend would continue.
The JTWC forecasts that Typhoon Bavi will pass near Ishigakijima, an island in southern Japan, by the evening of July 10 before passing over the East China Sea north of Taiwan. Bavi is expected to make landfall over eastern China and then dissipate inland, likely by July 13.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 7/9/2026
Resolutions:
1km (986.3 KB), 500m (1.6 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
