Tropical Storm Higos intensified into a typhoon on Sunday.  At 11:00 p.m. EST on Sunday the center of Typhoon Higos was located at latitude 12.3°N and longitude 156.4°E which put it about 780 miles east of Guam.  It was moving toward the west-northwest at 3 m.p.h.  The maximum sustained wind speed was 85 m.p.h. and there were gusts to 100 m.p.h.  The minimum surface pressure was 967 mb.

Higos has been moving slowly through an area where the vertical wind shear was not too strong.  Thunderstorms around the center of circulation supported strong upper level divergence, which pumped out large quantities of mass.  A well developed upper level outflow channel to the northeast enhanced the flow of mass away from the system.  Those processes allowed the surface pressure to decrease and the wind speeds to increase on Sunday.  Higos remains over warm Sea Surface Temperatures and further intensification is possible on Monday.  Eventually, when it moves farther north, Higos will move into an area of stronger wind shear and weaken.

Higos is moving near the western end of a subtropical ridge.  It is in an area of weak steering winds, and Higos is moving slowly.  The increased intensity and vertical height of the circulation make it more likely that Higos will move toward the north as it reaches the western end of the subtropical ridge.  The guidance from numerical models has increased the probability of this track.