Chan-hom To Intensify; Late-Week Threat to Okinawa, Taiwan, China as a Strong Typhoon (FORECAST)

Jon Erdman
Published: July 5,2015
Tropical Storm Chan-hom passed near Rota Island Sunday, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds and high surf to the Marianas. Guam is 14 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern daylight time.
As of late Sunday afternoon, the NWS office on Guam measured 11.77 inches of rain from Chan-hom. Rota Island also picked up 7-10 inches of rain. By early Monday morning, only patchy areas of locally heavy rain remained near Guam and the Marianas. Winds were diminishing, but high seas were expected to persist into Monday.

Guam Radar/Current Winds

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, reported a peak wind gust to 62 mph Sunday afternoon. Guam International Airport just east of Hagatna, Guam, clocked a peak gust to 43 mph, while Rota Island measured a peak gust to 37 mph.
(FORECAST: Guam)

Enhanced Satellite: Chan-hom

Chan-hom is poised to become a typhoon again by Monday and could be a significant threat to parts of east Asia late this week.
Chan-hom is expected to continue to track northwest next week around the southwest side of high-pressure aloft.
Like Super Typhoon Dolphin in May, Chan-hom appears likely to undergo a period of rapid intensification in this zone of the Philippine Sea.
With the upper-level ridge extending rather far to the west over or near southwest Honshu Island, Japan, and the jet stream remaining well to the north, Chan-hom could be a threat to the southwest Japanese islands (including Okinawa), Taiwan and eastern China late this week, possibly as a strong typhoon.
While details on the exact track at this time are highly uncertain, therefore, it is not yet known where the worst of Chan-hom will be experienced, here is the potential timing of the closest approach of Chan-hom (all times local):

• Okinawa: Thursday/Thursday night
• Taiwan: Friday
• Eastern China: Late Friday/early Saturday

(FORECAST: Taipei | Shanghai)

Chan-hom Forecast Path

Those with interests in the southwest islands of Japan, Taiwan or near the Chinese coast of the East China Sea should monitor forecast updates on Chan-hom the next several days.
Chan-hom isn't the only system we are tracking in the western Pacific.
Tropical Storm Nangka is well east of Chan-hom and will likely pass well north of Guam later this week. Nangka may, however, threaten Iwo Jima late Friday or Saturday, possibly as a strong typhoon. It remains to soon to tell whether Nangka may eventually pose a threat to mainland Japan next week.
Tropical Storm Linfa is producing heavy rainfall over the northern Philippines, and will creep slowly northward toward Taiwan, bringing more heavy rain there this week. It is possible Linfa's circulation may be weakened by what is expected to be a much stronger Chan-hom later this week.
Meteorologist Chris Dolce contributed to this report.

MORE: Super Typhoon Maysak Images (March-April 2015)