Super Typhoon Champi very likely is the strongest typhoon or hurricane on Earth so far in 2026.
According to the National Weather Service as of Wednesday evening, it continued to traverse open water over the Western North Pacific about 1,150 miles west-northwest of Guam as it continued westward across the Philippine Sea at around 15 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph, though it slowed slightly Thursday morning to about 155 mph, according to NWS.
Champi made its closest approach to Guam at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday as a Category 4 typhoon, nearly missing the island by some 13 to 15 miles, according to reporting at the time. As it was leaving the island it was upgraded to a super typhoon, moving westward into the Philippine Sea.
Champi had the highest recorded max sustained wind speed at around 185 mph at around 7 a.m. on Wednesday, according to NWS meteorologist David DeCou.
That just slightly tops the estimated max sustained winds of Super Typhoon Bavi and Super Typhoon Sinlaku.
In comparison, at its strongest, Bavi had estimated max sustained wind speeds of 180 just as it passed over Rota on July 6 and Sinlaku also had estimated max sustained wind speeds of 180 mph on April 13 as it approached the Mariana Islands.
Super Typhoon Mawar in 2023 hit max sustained wind speeds of around 190 mph as it moved over the Philippine Sea around May 26, 2023, according to historical weather data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewards.
However, the exact wind speeds and exact tracks of the super typhoons won’t be definitive until the best track reports come out sometime next year, according to DeCou.
