Guam puts a typhoon watch in effect and raises readiness as Tropical Depression Champi approaches

Governor Lou Leon Guerrero declared Condition of Readiness 3 for Guam effective 5 p.m. Chamorro Standard Time on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Guam Homeland Security and the Office of Civil Defense said so in Public Advisory No. 2. That is 3 a.m. Eastern.

The same advisory says the National Weather Service office on Guam has a Typhoon Watch for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. A Typhoon Watch means typhoon conditions, including winds of 74 mph or greater, are possible within 48 hours somewhere in those areas.

At 1 p.m. Chamorro Standard Time, the advisory put the center of Tropical Depression 29W near 10.8 north, 158.9 east, about 970 miles east of Guam. It was moving west-northwest at 13 mph. Winds were near 35 mph. That clock is 11 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday. The advisory says the depression is expected to turn west and begin to intensify on Friday. It says the weather service expects the storm to move through the region as at least a Category 1 typhoon, but more likely stronger. It says the exact path can change, and that people should not focus on the exact forecast track. It also says there is a possibility of at least widespread damage somewhere in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

On wind, the advisory says tropical-storm-force winds could begin affecting portions of the Marianas around midnight Saturday night into Sunday morning. Strong tropical-storm-force winds are forecast from Sunday morning through late Sunday night. Typhoon-force winds of 74 mph or greater are possible from Sunday morning through Sunday afternoon.

The advisory says surf is expected to become hazardous, then dangerous, with life-threatening surf likely over the weekend. It says coastal inundation of 2 to 4 feet, possibly higher, is possible, depending on where the center goes, and that it is too early to say which reefs will be hit hardest. It says heavy to torrential rain is expected, and that a Flood Watch is likely for the Marianas.

A later bulletin uses the name Champi. National Weather Service Tiyan Advisory Number 4, issued at 7:24 p.m. Chamorro Standard Time, is headed Tropical Depression Champi (29W). It says a Typhoon Watch is in effect for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan, and for the adjacent coastal waters. At 7 p.m., which the bulletin lists as 0900 UTC, the center was near latitude 11.0 north, longitude 157.8 east: about 895 miles east of Guam, about 875 miles east-southeast of Rota, about 865 miles east-southeast of Tinian, and about 860 miles east-southeast of Saipan. Winds were still 35 mph. Champi was moving west-northwest at 10 mph.

The weather service says Champi is expected to turn slightly toward the west and to move faster over the next couple of days. It says that track takes Champi near the Marianas on Sunday. It says Champi may become a tropical storm later Thursday evening and a typhoon Saturday evening. Advisory Number 4 does not repeat the Category 1 line from the homeland security advisory.

When this story was filed, the Tiyan forecast office page still listed a Typhoon Watch. Its last map update was 9:24 p.m. Chamorro Standard Time on Thursday. That page did not print a new position. The tropical-cyclones page linked from the homeland security advisory did not print a position for Champi either. The figures above are Public Advisory No. 2 and Advisory Number 4.

The homeland security advisory says the next local statement from the weather service was due around 9 p.m. Chamorro Standard Time, or sooner if conditions change. This desk did not open a statement issued after Advisory Number 4.