Guam: The track of Typhoon Mawar has shifted slightly to the south, with the eye expected to pass over the southern part of Guam this afternoon reports the Pacific Daily News.
At 9am local time today, Guam was experiencing tropical storm conditions, with winds of 58 mph. Later today, the island could see sustained winds of up to 145 mph, with gusts of 170 mph.
Winds will gradually increase over the next few hours, and “those typhoon-force winds that are tightly packed around the center of the storm, those winds will significantly and rapidly intensify across the island,” Warning Coordination Meteorologist Landon Aydlett said at a National Weather Service briefing Wednesday morning. “All of Guam will be feeling typhoon-force conditions, with the strongest conditions particularly over southern Guam, central Guam.”
“We’re looking at about a 4 p.m. (6 p.m. Fiji time) passage with this latest track, so 4 p.m. sitting right over the heart of southern Guam in the southern mountains,” he said.
Emergency officials stress that when the eye does pass over the island, residents should remain indoors.
“Do not go outside,” Aydlett said. “Extreme winds will rapidly return. Do not venture outside if conditions rapidly improve and the winds settled down. You’re within that eyewall passage.”
