Super Typhoon Champi has become the strongest storm recorded so far in 2026, with maximum sustained winds reaching approximately 185 miles per hour (290 kilometres per hour) over the Philippine Sea, according to forecasters cited by Scientific American.
The storm reached this intensity on Tuesday afternoon, US Eastern Time. By Wednesday morning, its winds had weakened slightly to around 175 mph (282 km/h), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center placed Champi about 430 nautical miles south of Kadena Air Base in Japan, with the storm moving northwest. Forecasters expected it to weaken further over the following day or so.
Champi’s intensity highlights the active tropical cyclone season in the Pacific, where powerful storms are more common than in other ocean basins. The 2026 season has seen several exceptionally intense cyclones, contrasting with relatively subdued activity in the North Atlantic.
Pacific Storms Outpace Atlantic Activity
In the North Atlantic, Hurricane Isaias was the strongest storm recorded so far in 2026, with maximum winds of approximately 120 mph (193 km/h) according to Colorado State University’s cyclone database.
The northeastern Pacific also experienced an exceptionally powerful storm in September, when Hurricane Polo reached winds of around 178 mph (286 km/h). In the northwestern Pacific, Typhoons Sinlaku in April and Bavi in July also reached comparable intensities.
Champi is the 25th storm recorded in the northwestern Pacific this year, according to Colorado State University’s tracker.
Tropical cyclones are classified as hurricanes or typhoons according to their location. A storm must reach sustained wind speeds of at least 74 mph (119 km/h) to qualify as either. In the Northern Hemisphere, cyclones forming west of the International Date Line in the Pacific are called typhoons, while those developing east of it are generally classified as hurricanes.
The 2026 cyclone season has been unusual in several respects. The Atlantic has experienced relatively limited activity, with Hurricane Isaias becoming the season’s first hurricane unusually late. The Hawaiian Islands, meanwhile, have experienced a higher than usual number of hurricanes this season.
One factor influencing these contrasting patterns is El Niño climate phenomenon involving changes in sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation across the tropical Pacific.
During El Niño conditions, hurricane activity generally tends to weaken in the Atlantic while increasing in parts of the Pacific. These shifts influence where storms develop and how favourable atmospheric conditions are for their intensification.
Champi’s record setting winds therefore come amid a year of contrasting cyclone activity across the world’s oceans. However, the storm’s intensity alone does not establish that El Niño is responsible for its development; individual cyclones are shaped by several interacting atmospheric and oceanic factors.