Hagupit’s Modest Peak: Tropical Storm Winds Over Yap State in 2026
According to the final Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) best-track assessment, Tropical Storm Hagupit (05W) dissipated over the open western North Pacific after completing its northwestward track through Yap State in May 2026. Hagupit peaked with maximum sustained winds of 39 kt (72 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 999 hPa. The primary affected regions were the islands of Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia, where official narratives confirmed no injuries, fatalities, evacuations, or damage. For Hagupit, all meteorological metrics are verified against official best-track archives and the National Weather Service impact documentation.
Genesis in the Western Pacific: Hagupit’s Early Track and 05W Upgrade
On 7 May 2026, the JTWC upgraded Hagupit to a tropical storm and relocated its center west of Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia. The upgrade aligned with a scatterometer pass around Hagupit that showed southeast to south winds around 35 to 40 mph (30 to 35 kt) over Satawal. Earlier that morning, Woleai had already experienced the first confirmed tropical-storm-force winds of Hagupit as the circulation moved northwest. Hagupit therefore entered the named-storm record not as a rapidly developing typhoon but as a modest, well-documented tropical storm.
The operational designation 05W remained in use through Hagupit’s final assessment. The National Weather Service narrative places the center near or over Woleai later that day, giving forecasters a ground-truth point for Hagupit’s early phase. From that position, Hagupit followed a broadly northwestward trajectory through Yap State, passing near or north of several islands before moving into open waters.
Hagupit’s Peak and Fall: A 39-Knot Tropical Storm at 999 hPa
Hagupit’s verified peak intensity in the official record stands at 39 kt (72 km/h) with a minimum central pressure of 999 hPa. That combination places Hagupit near the lower end of the tropical storm spectrum, with a pressure minimum that was not exceptionally deep. No phase of rapid intensification occurred in the JTWC data, and no typhoon-intensity winds were reported by any official agency. The 999 hPa reading is significant not because it is extreme; rather, it defines Hagupit’s meteorological identity as a relatively weak, short-lived system.
Hagupit reached this peak while traversing the island chain of Yap State. The wind radii in the official track indicate that tropical-storm-force winds affected multiple islands from 7 through 9 May, with the final reported window ending over Yap during the early morning of 9 May. Hagupit never approached the structural thresholds that define severe tropical cyclones, but its complete observation record still provides a valuable benchmark for how weak systems behave when embedded among small Micronesian islands.
Hagupit’s Track Through Yap State: Woleai, Ngulu, and the Waters South of Yap
Hagupit’s center passed near or over Woleai on 7 May, then tracked northwest to pass south of Faraulep and Fais on 8 May. The National Weather Service narrative also describes the center as passing south of Ulithi and Yap, while it passed north of Ngulu during the overnight hours of 8 May into 9 May. Over Satawal, tropical-storm-force winds arrived during the early afternoon of 7 May and lasted through the late evening, coinciding with the JTWC upgrade. At Fais and Faraulep, tropical-storm-force winds occurred from the morning through the early afternoon of 8 May. At Ulithi, those winds began in the early afternoon and ended by late afternoon on 8 May. At Yap, tropical-storm-force conditions began during the early afternoon of 8 May and ended during the early morning of 9 May.
At Woleai, Hagupit’s wind field was measurably asymmetric. Scatterometer data placed the strongest winds northeast of the circulation center while the center itself was not directly sampled. At Ngulu, the official narrative describes tropical-storm-force winds passing just north of the island, with the center passing north of Ngulu rather than directly over it. The timing of these wind events forms a coherent northwestward progression of Hagupit from Woleai and Satawal on 7 May to the islands farther northwest on 8 May and 9 May.
Hagupit’s Island Impacts: Official Narratives From NWS Guam
On 21 May 2026, the National Weather Service Guam issued its official impact narrative for Hagupit, covering seven islands in Yap State. For every island — Fais, Faraulep, Ngulu, Satawal, Ulithi, Woleai, and Yap — the report lists the same human-impact result: injuries none, fatalities none, evacuations none, and no damage or impact reports received. The narrative also provides a first-hand verification of Hagupit’s wind field.
- Fais — Tropical-storm-force winds occurred from the morning through the early afternoon of 8 May. Scatterometer data showed east to east-southeast winds around 35 to 40 mph (30 to 35 kt) near Fais.
- Faraulep — Tropical-storm-force winds occurred from the morning through the early afternoon of 8 May. Winds were east to east-northeast around 35 to 40 mph.
- Ngulu — The strongest sampled winds, around 40 mph (35 kt), were north and northeast of the center. Peak winds estimated for the island were 25 to 35 mph (22 to 30 kt).
- Satawal — Tropical-storm-force winds covered the island from the early afternoon through the late evening of 7 May. Scatterometer data showed southeast to south winds around 35 to 40 mph.
- Ulithi — Tropical-storm-force winds occurred from the early afternoon through the late afternoon of 8 May. Easterly winds near 35 to 40 mph were sampled near Ulithi.
- Woleai — Tropical-storm-force winds occurred from the morning through the late afternoon of 7 May. The strongest winds were northeast of the center, with the center passing near or over the island.
- Yap — Tropical-storm-force winds occurred from the early afternoon of 8 May through the early morning of 9 May. East to east-southeast winds around 35 to 40 mph were present near Yap.
The consistency of the official impact narratives, combined with the scatterometer observations, gives Hagupit an unusually complete record for a storm of its intensity.
The Meteorological Story of Hagupit: Scatterometer Winds and an Asymmetric Circulation
Scatterometer passes around Hagupit repeatedly sampled winds of 30 to 35 kt (35 to 40 mph) in the southern and eastern quadrants of the storm. The Woleai pass was especially instructive: the scatterometer missed the center, but the edges of the scan indicated an asymmetric wind field, with the highest winds located northeast of the circulation. A similar asymmetry appeared at Ngulu, where the strongest winds were north and northeast of the center rather than over the island itself.
These observations form the meteorological core of Hagupit’s archive. In the absence of aircraft reconnaissance, scatterometer data became the critical tool for locating Hagupit’s surface circulation and estimating its intensity. The official narrative confirms that Hagupit’s tropical-storm-force wind radii were present over several islands, even though the central pressure remained at 999 hPa and the maximum sustained wind stayed at 39 kt. For the western Pacific record, this makes Hagupit a useful case study in the relationship between scatterometer-derived winds, asymmetric storm structure, and island-level impact.
Archive Value: Hagupit’s Null-Impact Record in Tropical Cyclone History
Hagupit’s 2026 archive provides a complete official record of a tropical storm that triggered confirmed tropical-storm-force wind warnings across multiple Micronesian islands without resulting in any human or infrastructural impacts. That documentation matters because forecast verification depends on this exact kind of post-storm narrative. When a storm does not make landfall in a populated urban center, its history can disappear from public memory; the NWS Guam report preserves the details of Hagupit’s wind exposure, center position, and island-level effects.
For the broader tropical cyclone record, Hagupit serves as a baseline case for how weak systems behave in the western North Pacific. It also demonstrates that official meteorological documentation applies the same rigorous standards to every named storm, regardless of peak intensity. Hagupit’s legacy is not measured in damage or casualties, but in the quality and completeness of the official documentation that followed it.
Source Trail: Official References for Hagupit 2026
The official NWS Guam impact narrative for Hagupit, published on 21 May 2026, is the primary island-impact reference for this report. The AccuWeather archive page for Tropical Storm Hagupit 2026 provides a secondary operational reference. All pressure, wind, and date metrics in this report follow the official best-track record for the 2026 Hagupit event.