Typhoon Mawar Strikes Guam As Strongest, Closest To Hit U.S. Territory In 20 Years

Typhoon Mawar has made a direct strike on the U.S. territory of Guam with destructive winds, flooding rain and storm surge in what is its strongest, closest strike in 20 years.

Here is what you need to know about this typhoon.

Where Mawar is now: T​he southern eyewall of Mawar is scraping across northern Guam right now, which means the island is in the thick of the typhoon's most intense winds, flooding rainfall and storm surge.

Maximum sustained winds in the typhoon were 140 mph as of the latest Joint Typhoon Warning Center advisory, making Mawar a strong Category 4 equivalent.

Winds up to 105 mph have been clocked at Guam's International Airport.

C​onditions in Guam should slowly improve late tonight, local time (Guam is 14 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Daylight Time).

M​awar will likely remain a formidably intense typhoon after it leaves Guam, and could regain super typhoon status in the Philippine Sea in the next few days.

We'll then have to watch when Mawar will curl to the northwest, then north, then northeast beginning early next week.

T​he later and less sharp the curve, the bigger the potential threat to the northern Philippines, Taiwan and Japan next week.

People in these areas should monitor this forecast in the days ahead and be prepared, in case it eventually becomes a threat.

S​trong typhoons are typical near Guam. According to NOAA's historical database, 14 typhoons of at least Category 4 intensity have tracked within 70 miles of Guam dating to 1949.

T​he last one to do so was Chaba, which hammered the northern Marianas, includlng Rota, Saipan and Tinian in late August 2004.

O​nly once since World War II has a super typhoon's center passed directly over Guam. That was Super Typhoon Karen, which did so on Nov. 12, 1962.

Peak wind gusts were estimated from 170 to 185 mph, estimated because all wind instruments failed during the peak of the storm.

K​aren destroyed 95 percent of the homes on Guam, left 9,000 homeless and killed nine. Acting Gov. Manuel Guerrero described the devastation as "much more serious than that of 1944" when the U.S. recaptured the island from Japan. He also said the super typhoon had completely wiped out 17 years' worth of work and investments rebuilding after World War II.

S​ince then, Guam has taken considerable effort hardening its infrastructure. They've built more concrete-reinforced homes with concrete roofs able to withstand stronger winds. They've also erected reinforced concrete utility poles to diminish the number of poles downed by storms.

T​ropical storms and typhoons can happen any time of year near Guam, but roughly two-thirds of them happen during Guam's rainy season from August through November.

M​ORE ON WEATHER.COM:

2​023 Hurricane Season Outlook

H​ow El Niño Could Influence Hurricane Season

C​hanges You'll See In Forecasts This Hurricane Season

Facts About Each Of The 2023 Hurricane Season Names

W​hen Was The Last 'Quiet' Hurricane Season?

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been an incurable weather geek since a tornado narrowly missed his childhood home in Wisconsin at age 7. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.