A strengthening hurricane was barreling toward the Northern Marianas Islands on July 2, 2026, and forecasters said it could reach the region early next week as a dangerous Category 5 storm. The U.S. Coast Guard was already moving boats, pulling cutters out and warning maritime interests in Guam and Saipan to prepare before tropical storm force winds arrive.
Capt. Jessica Worst said the window to get ready was closing. The Coast Guard, she said, was moving boats, securing its base and getting cutters underway while urging the community to use the same day to prepare. That urgency is why the search for Bavi is rising now: residents, shipping interests and emergency crews are not waiting on landfall to feel the effects.
As of Friday evening local time, Bavi was tracking west-northwest at about 12 knots with sustained winds near 105 knots, over warm water that was expected to help it intensify through the weekend. The National Weather Service called it a significant threat to the Marianas Islands, and its latest forecast had the storm headed toward Tinian, though the track could still shift south toward Guam or north toward Saipan.
That uncertainty matters because the storm is expected to bring rough seas across a wide area, with wave heights of 25 to 35 feet around the Marianas and as much as 40 feet near the center. The Coast Guard said its cutters homeported in Apra were leaving ahead of the winds, and its small boats were being trailered to safe storage, a move that will reduce local search-and-rescue capability before the storm arrives.
Guam Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero declared a state of emergency and urged residents to make preparations. The island chain has already been through this kind of warning earlier in 2026, when Typhoon Sinlaku hit the region and the high winds and waves claimed the lives of the six-member crew of the cargo vessel Mariana at sea.
Bavi now has a clear path in the forecast and no clear guarantee of where the worst will land. If the storm keeps strengthening as expected, the Marianas will face a powerful system with less help close at hand just when the seas turn most dangerous.
