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13-metre waves, 268kmph winds: Super typhoon Dolphin barrels towards East Asia
It currently generates extremely rough seas and high swells that are expected to impact marine areas and island regions
- PUBLISHED: Fri 31 Jul 2026, 4:24 PM
Several East Asian countries and territories are preparing for the onslaught of yet another strong weather system that has developed into a super typhoon in the central Pacific Ocean.
Super Typhoon Dolphin has become an extremely violent system near Wake Island and is barrelling towards southern Japan, northern Taiwan and mainland China as it moves westward. It currently generates extremely rough seas and high swells that are expected to impact marine areas and island regions.
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ST Dolphin is whipping up 13-meter waves with sustained winds of 268 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 324 kmph as of Thursday, according to the US’ Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). The said parameters are forecast to grow even stronger in the next 48 hours, it said.
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It is expected to directly impact East Asian countries early next week.
Super El Niño effect
ST Dolphin is the third super typhoon in the central and western Pacific this year, promising to be more powerful than Super Typhoon Sinlaku in April (298 kph winds) and Super Typhoon Bavi in July (packing winds of 290 kph).
ST Sinlaku caused a total of 17 deaths across the Western Pacific region, including Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
ST Bavi caused at least 23 to 26 deaths across Asia (with several remain missing), primarily resulting from severe floods and landslides in the Philippines driven by the storm's enhancement of the southwest monsoon.
The Pacific Ocean is currently under a super El Niño phase, an unusually powerful climate pattern that happens when average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean rise 2°C or more above normal.
Super El Niño does not increase the total number of tropical storms, but it creates conditions that induce and heavily intensify individual typhoons into super typhoons.
Close monitoring
ST Dolphin is expected to disrupt shipping activities in east mainland China that has yet to recover from ST Bavi, Hellenic Shipping News reported. “The immediate risk is delayed discharge, deeper anchorage congestion, and tighter vessel supply across the Pacific,” it added.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of expected extreme marine conditions, powerful swells, and high waves near the country’s Ogasawara Islands, with steering currents indicating it will largely remain a marine threat while being monitored for potential indirect Pacific coastal impact.
ST Dolphin is expected to whip up strong winds and high waves across the East Sea (South China Sea) next week without entering it, Vietnam's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned.
Filipino weather forecaster Benison Estareja, meanwhile, said ST Dolphin is expected to cross the Philippine Area of Responsibility but will not cause any substantial impact on local weather.