Typhoon Yutu

Typhoon Yutu, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Rosita, was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic destruction on the islands of Tinian and Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and later impacted the Philippines in late October 2018. It was the strongest typhoon ever recorded to impact the Mariana Islands before Typhoon Bavi in 2026, and is tied as the second-strongest tropical cyclone to strike the United States and its unincorporated territories by both wind speed and barometric pressure, behind Bavi. It also tied Typhoon Kong-rey as the most powerful tropical cyclone worldwide in 2018. The twenty-sixth named storm and the twelfth typhoon of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season, Yutu originated as a tropical depression moving westward around the Marshall Islands on October 20, becoming a tropical storm by October 22 and receiving its name from the Japan Meteorological Agency. Favorable conditions led to a period of rapid intensification as it moved west-northwestward, and by October 24, Yutu had achieved its peak intensity as it made landfall over Tinian on October 25. An eyewall replacement cycle ensued, before the storm re-strengthened as it approached Luzon, which then entered marginal conditions; it made a second landfall over Dinapigue, Isabela by October 29 before entering the South China Sea, where it weakened turning northward until it had dissipated by November 3. An emergency was declared for the Northern Mariana Islands as Yutu approached the archipelago, while tropical cyclone warnings and watches were raised. Winds of 270 km/h (170 mph) and gusts of 320 km/h (200 mph) swept across Tinian and Saipan, causing devastating damage throughout the Northern Mariana Islands that amounted over US$800 million, far exceeding that of Typhoon Soudelor in 2015. The storm destroyed up to 6,000 homes and toppled 962 power poles in Saipan and Tinian, leaving the...