Pacific typhoon forecast to hit Guam

Wutip packing 100 mph winds, will intensify more

HAGATNA, Guam — A growing typhoon in the Pacific is heading toward the Mariana Islands and could lash Guam with strong winds, rain and surf this weekend.

The U.S. National Weather Service in Guam reports Typhoon Wutip was packing 100 mph winds and will continue to intensify through Saturday. The storm was about 480 milessoutheast of Guam Friday.

Typhoon warnings remain in place for parts of the Federated States of Micronesia, and tropical storm warnings are in effect for Guam and other nearby islands. The typhoon is expected to track just south of Guam Saturday into Sunday.

“When it’s near Guam, (wind) will be up to 115 mph , but we won’t see that on the island,” said meteorologist Michael Ziobro of the National Weather Service in Guam.

Wutip has typhoon-force winds extending about 35 milesfrom its center and tropical storm-force winds up to 150 miles away.

Antoninette Arriola, a 48-year-old school aide, was doing laundry as part of her storm preparations. “After the storm is over, a lot of people are going to be here washing, so we wanted to do it before then.”

Tyrone Quinata, 23, purchased coffee as his first storm preparation. He added batteries for his flashlights and radio. “I think we’ll be fine,” he said.

Chris Barcinas, 29, a heavy equipment operator, was filling his pickup truck with gasoline. He said he wasn’t worried about the typhoon.

“I’m prepared. Guam’s strong. We know what typhoons are,” Barcinas said. “If it does come, I hope everyone stays safe and they have a good time during the typhoon,” Barcinas added.

The peak season for typhoons in the region is late summer into fall, but strong storms in the winter are not uncommon.

“The Western Pacific is the only basin on the planet that has tropical cyclones year-round,” said meteorologist Tom Birchard of the National Weather Service in Honolulu. “It’s somewhat unusual, but it’s not outside the realm of expectation.”

Something that was unusual about Wutip, Birchard said, was where it formed.

“It formed at a very low latitude,” Birchard said.

A westerly wind burst near the equator spun up Wutip shortly after the same winds formed a tropical cyclone Oma in the southern hemisphere, Birchard said.

Grace Garces Bordallo The Associated Press Tyrone Quinata, 23, and his nephew Rayden Gofigan, 11, shop for batteries and other necessities Thursday in Tamuning, Guam. An intensifying tropical storm in the Pacific is bearing down on Micronesia and could threaten the U.S. territory of Guam in the coming days.