Brief Chat: Aydlett twins discuss climate, community and resilience

Admin
8 minutes ago
3 min read

By Bryan Manabat

Saipan--When Super Typhoon Sinlaku’s winds pounded the Marianas in mid-April and ground across the islands for nearly a full day, residents relied on familiar voices for storm advisories: Brandon and Landon Aydlett. The twin meteorologists are the region’s most recognizable guides through extreme weather.

The brothers—born minutes apart—have been with the National Weather Service in Guam for more than 16 years. Originally from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, near the Outer Banks, they attended North Carolina State University. While neither served in the military, both worked on weather-related contracts for the Department of Defense before coming to Guam in 2010.

Stationed in a region along the path of typhoons, Brandon and Landon have constantly monitored threats from tropical depressions, storms and occasional typhoons in the Pacific island region. Although the highest risk of typhoons is typically from August through November, they can occur year-round.

Among the most devastating typhoons that swooped down on the Marianas region in the past 15 years were Soudelor, Mangkhut, Yutu, Mawar and most recently, Sinlaku.

The Aydlett brothers came to Saipan twice after Sinlaku to document flooding, structural damage and wind impacts, and to better understand how the community responds to weather alerts and storm warnings.

“We really wanted to touch up on conversations,” said Brandon, the meteorologist-in-charge. “The social science, the preparedness of people before the storm, going through the long ordeal of this slow‑moving storm and then assessing things in the aftermath.”

Brandon noted that Sinlaku was unlike any storm the Marianas had experienced in years. Not because it was the strongest—Yutu still holds that distinction—but because Sinlaku simply would not leave. After stalling over Chuuk for three days, the typhoon crawled toward the Marianas at barely 5 to 6 mph and delivered 22 straight hours of extreme wind warnings.

Brandon said he had never seen such a peculiar characteristic in any U.S. jurisdiction before. “It just kept on,” he said. “Having 150 mph winds for 24 hours is significant.”

With communications knocked out at the height of the storm, even surviving sensors on the airfield went silent. The weather service lost real‑time wind data just as the storm peaked. Brandon said the system's collapse served as a reminder of the region’s fragile infrastructure.

While Brandon focuses on science, Landon, the warning coordination meteorologist, focuses on people, the shelters, the responders and the families who acted early.

“Preparedness was on point where it should be,” Landon said. “People went to shelters early and that made a difference. Zero lives lost on island is something this community should be proud of.”

For years, the twins have pushed the weather service to expand beyond traditional advisories. Their communication strategy optimizes digital platforms. “We’ve been doubling down on how we communicate—visually, on social media, through Facebook Live, and direct emails,” Landon said. “We want to make sure our information gets down to the outermost village, the outermost household.”

But even as the islands recover from Sinlaku, the brothers are looking ahead. What they currently see is sobering.

A strong El Niño is building across the Pacific, warming the Central Pacific waters where tropical cyclones form during El Niño years. Historically, storms born there track west‑northwest, straight toward the Marianas.

“When we have a strong El Niño, Central Pacific waters warm up,” Brandon said. “That’s where tropical cyclones will start to generate. When things form over there, that puts the Mariana Islands in the crosshairs.”

He warned that the region could face another major typhoon this season, a dangerous prospect given the fractured infrastructure Sinlaku left behind.

“Sinlaku was a devastating hit to Saipan and to Tinian. It may not be our last one,” he said. “We might want to make sure we’re definitely prepared this year.”

And the threat doesn’t end with storms. The Aydletts say the islands could face a much drier dry season from January through June 2027, raising wildfire risks as storm debris dries out.

“Think of all the vegetation that fell during Sinlaku,” Brandon said. “This is all going to be drying out. That makes our wildfire potential increase when we don’t have rainfall.”

For Landon and Brandon, the message is simple: learn from Sinlaku, prepare for what’s next and never assume the last storm was the worst.

“If there are lessons you wish you had done before Sinlaku, make that list now,” Brandon said. “We could be that much more vulnerable with our fractured infrastructure.”

In a region shaped by wind, water and resilience, the Aydlett twins are more than forecasters; they are guardians of the Marianas, two steady voices helping the islands navigate a future where storms are slower, stronger and increasingly shaped by a changing climate.

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