Overview of Tropical Cyclone in April 2026

One tropical cyclone occurred over the western North Pacific in April 2026.

Sinlaku (2604) formed as a tropical depression over the western North Pacific about 1 010 km east-southeast of Guam in the small hours of 9 April, and lingered over the region in the following two days. It rapidly intensified into a super typhoon on 12 April, and picked up speed to track northwestwards towards the Mariana Islands. Sinlaku attained its peak intensity that night, with an estimated maximum sustained wind of 270 km/h near its centre. It moved across the vicinity of Saipan and Tinian as a super typhoon on the night of 14 April. Sinlaku then gradually turned to move northeastwards in the following four days across the seas east of Iwo Jima, and weakened gradually. It turned to track east-northeastwards on 19 April, and finally evolved into an extratropical cyclone over the western North Pacific in the small hours of the next day.

According to press reports, Sinlaku brought torrential rain and squalls to Micronesia and the Mariana Islands, with a maximum accumulated rainfall of 450 millimetres recorded in Chuuk State of Micronesia. In Micronesia, Sinlaku caused at least nine deaths, one person missing and five injuries. About 34 000 people were affected, and around 7 000 houses were damaged. During the passage of Sinlaku over the Mariana Islands, a cargo vessel capsized, killing one crew member and leaving five missing. Over 1 500 houses were damaged in Saipan. In Guam, two people died of carbon monoxide poisoning from using generators indoors during a power outage. The economic loss to the Mariana Islands was estimated to exceed USD 1.4 billion.