Currently — May 24, 2023: Super Typhoon Mawar strikes Guam, how to help

The weather, currently.

Super Typhoon Mawar has made a direct hit on Guam, the US territory about 3,000 miles west of Hawaii.

Mawar packed sustained winds of 160 mph and estimated storm surge of 6 to 10 feet on exposed coastlines, enough to cause catastrophic damage.

According to meteorologist Jeff Masters, Mawar is the 9th typhoon or hurricane of at least Category 4 strength to hit the United States in just the past six years — an unprecedented streak of bad luck that coincides with rapid warming of the Earth's oceans over the same time period. Mawar is the strongest typhoon to hit Guam in the past 20 years, and only the fourth storm of at least Category 4 to strike Guam since modern recordkeeping began there in 1945.

If you'd like to donate your support directly to typhoon relief efforts in Guam, consider Ayuda Foundation, which is based there.

— Eric Holthaus

What you can do, currently.

Currently is transitioning to become an entirely member-funded organization.

We're doing this to boost our organization's prospects for growth and sustainability, and to align more with our founding ethos of becoming an independent weather service for the climate emergency.

Paid members will have a truly premium weather experience. Here's some of what we have planned:

• Text directly with Eric, our founder, who will personally answer your weather questions and give you a customized forecast on demand.

• Our first weather app, which will put your daily weather in the context of climate change, no matter where you are, anywhere in the world.

• Reader-ownership — an experiment in direct democracy so that Currently can remain accountable to our most important stakeholders, you, the readers.

We have SO MANY more exciting features planned, but we can't do this without your direct support. Your paid membership makes Currently possible.