Infrared imagery captured by the Himawari-8 satellite shows Typhoon Noru churning in the Pacific on Monday, July 31, 2017. (Source: RAMM/CIRA Slider) For ten days, Noru meandered aimlessly in the Pacific at no more than Category 1 strength, doing a big lazy do-si-do with a tropical storm but otherwise seemingly going nowhere. By Sunday, Noru had weakened into a tropical storm. But as it wandered southward, it entered an environment with low wind shear plus very warm surface waters at close to 30°C (86°F). And then... KABOOM! Noru exploded — with winds increasing by 90 miles per hour in just 18 hours. That transformed the storm from a wandering weakling into into roaring Super Typhoon with winds swirling at 160 mph. It is our planet's strongest storm of the year so far.
Typhoon Noru, as seen before dawn by the Himawari-8 satellite. (Source: CIRA/RAMMB)
Source: JTWC "What a change," writes ...
