Tropical cyclone Champi reached the status of the most powerful storm of 2026 on Wednesday morning, the 21st. With wind speeds close to 300 km/h and gusts forecast at 360 km/h, it continues its trajectory across the Pacific Ocean, posing a threat to Taiwan, China, and several locations in the Philippines.
According to the U.S. National Weather Service, the region is expected to be hit in the coming days by destructive winds, intense rainfall, and large waves. Currently, Champi has been classified as a Category 5 hurricane, the maximum level on the Saffir-Simpson scale used to measure hurricane intensity.
Tropical cyclones that develop in the Pacific are called 'typhoons.' Additionally, the prefix 'super' is applied by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) to storms whose winds exceed 240 km/h.
Current forecasts suggest that Champi should decrease its intensity soon, potentially weakening to Categories 3 or 4, although it still maintains destructive potential. There is a possibility that it will approach land even closer, towards Taiwan, between next Friday (23rd) and Saturday (24th), despite uncertainties about its exact route.
Champi is the fourth Category 5 cyclone in the Western Pacific season and the seventh globally in 2026. Researchers point out that the intense cyclonic activity may be related to El Niño, a phenomenon that alters atmospheric circulation and global oceanic conditions. While El Niño tends to reduce the number of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, it causes a significant increase in occurrences in the Pacific.
Understanding the Super Typhoon
In essential terms, hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons represent the same meteorological event; the nomenclature varies according to geographical location. Storms in the Atlantic and North Pacific are called 'hurricanes,' in the Southwest Indian Ocean they are 'tropical cyclones,' and in the Northwest Pacific, 'typhoons.' However, the underlying mechanism is identical.
The formation of these storms begins in the ocean, requiring the waters to be warm, ideally above 26.5°C. Several elements can contribute to this warming, including natural solar heating, events like El Niño, which redistributes oceanic heat, and global warming, driven by greenhouse gas emissions.
This mass of warm water plays two crucial roles: firstly, it serves as an energy source for the storm, providing more energy the higher the water temperature; secondly, it heats and humidifies the air above the sea surface. This triggers a process where hot air rises, generating a low-pressure zone around the affected area.
It is important to note that the hot air rises due to its expansion, making it less dense and consequently lighter than the surrounding air. This movement creates a 'vacuum' over the oceans, attracting winds from adjacent regions, characterizing the atmospheric low pressure. This combination results in prolonged and intense rainfall, along with strong winds that push water toward the coast, generating giant waves capable of flooding cities and villages.
At the core of these systems is the eye of the storm, a remarkably calm area. In the case of Champi, the atmospheric pressure reached 895 hPa, a value considered extremely low. This record is only surpassed by Hurricane Polo, which recorded 892 hPa at its center in the Eastern Pacific about a month ago.
