Typhoon In-fa became the fifth typhoon to affect the Mariana Islands this year, one short of 1997’s record

Typhoon In-fa swept over the northern Mariana Islands at the end of October, and AccuWeather counts it as the fifth typhoon to affect the island chain in 2026. Only one year has done worse: 1997, when six typhoons touched the Marianas. In-fa passed directly over remote Agrihan at the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, while staying well north of Guam.

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A fifth typhoon in a season is a rare tally for a chain that sits in one of the busiest storm corridors on Earth. The previous time the islands reached five was 2015, and the gap since then is a reminder of how unusual the current run has been for the people who live there.

The five typhoons on the 2026 list

In an AccuWeather count updated Oct. 30, meteorologist Jesse Ferrell listed the five: Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which hit Saipan on April 14; Super Typhoon Bavi, which made landfall on Rota on July 6; Typhoon Saudel on Aug. 22; Super Typhoon Champi, which passed near Guam on Oct. 18; and In-fa in late October. Three weaker systems, Mekkhala, Higos and Choi-Wan, brought the number of tropical systems near the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to eight.

The ranking depends on the definition. Choi-Wan, a tropical storm on Oct. 1, is counted among the eight systems but not among the five typhoons, and an alternate tally in German-language coverage lists it differently. AccuWeather’s version is the one that supports the one-short-of-record comparison.

Sinlaku set the tone for the year. NASA’s feature dates the busy Northwest Pacific season to April, when Sinlaku reached super typhoon strength, and says that twenty-five named storms later the basin was still active in late October. The agency’s meteorologist Gary Partyka named a strong El Niño as a likely contributor, noting that the pattern tends to steer storms toward Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

In-fa over Agrihan: track, intensity and surf

AccuWeather senior meteorologist Lydia Burroughs described In-fa’s position and its expected track as the storm crossed the chain. Reporting from wetter.net said the National Weather Service in Guam put sustained winds near 240 km/h, about 150 mph, with the center expected to pass near or directly over Agrihan on Friday, Oct. 30. The agency forecast surf of 3.7 to 5.5 meters on Saipan and Tinian and 3 to 4.3 meters on Guam and Rota.

That intensification was rapid. The same report cited Yale Climate Connections for a gain of about 95 km/h in 24 hours. Satellite imagery in NASA’s feature showed In-fa near the chain on Oct. 29 from the DSCOVR spacecraft and west of it on Oct. 30 from the Terra satellite, according to the Earth Observatory’s storm-season page.

Wetter.net noted that In-fa arrived almost exactly eight years after Super Typhoon Yutu, a reminder of how recent the Marianas’ worst storms are. The surf forecast came with a high rip current risk at every beach through Saturday, and slight coastal flooding was possible on Saipan, Tinian, Guam and Rota. The islands escaped the typhoon’s core, but the swell reached them regardless, and forecasters expected the high rip current risk to persist through the weekend as the storm slowed north of the chain.

Warnings, shelters and who was exposed

Agrihan holds few residents. Governor David Apatang declared typhoon readiness for Agrihan, Pagan and Alamagan on the Wednesday before the pass, and the people there were told to shelter until Saturday morning in bunkers, sturdy buildings or caves. No typhoon warning was issued for Saipan, Tinian or Rota, where gusts of about 60 km/h were the expected worst case.

The Saipan Tribune’s earlier forecast had In-fa passing about 200 miles south of Rota, with winds of 65 mph at the time and tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 85 miles east and 75 miles west of the center. Saipan and Tinian were judged too far away for direct effects but could still pick up 4 to 6 inches of rain in 24 hours, and trade winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 30 mph were expected across the commonwealth.

Earlier in the week, when In-fa was still a tropical storm, the Saipan Tribune quoted Gerald Deleon Guerrero of the CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management office saying the agency was monitoring the system with the weather service and urging residents in tents and unrepaired homes to secure their belongings. No shelters were expected to open unless the track shifted north.

The National Weather Service’s Guam forecast office showed no active tropical cyclones on Nov. 2, ending the run for now. The season is not over: AccuWeather said the typhoon could slow over the weekend, turn northeast and later threaten the Izu or Iwo islands. For the Marianas, the open question is whether a sixth typhoon arrives before the calendar year closes and ties 1997.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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