Super Typhoon Surigae soared in intensity from a Category 1 storm on Friday to a beastly Category 5 monster on Saturday, with maximum sustained winds estimated at 180 mph with higher gusts.
Why it matters: This storm – known as Typhoon Bising in the Philippines – is just the last of many tropical cyclones to undergo a process known as rapid intensification, a feat that studies show is increasingly common due to climate change.
- The storm seems predestined to return to sea just northeast of the Philippines, sparing the disaster-prone country from the worst consequences, but it will bring heavy rains, high seas and gusts of wind in some areas.
- It can also help you wake up weather patterns far downstream, including in North America, in the coming weeks.
Details: The storm reached its maximum at the top of the scale according to techniques meteorologists use to estimate storm intensity from satellites, scoring an 8 out of 8 on a particular metric, which is unusual.
- Of interest: Since planes don’t fly against typhoons in the West Pacific like they do in the Atlantic, we may never know how strong Super Typhoon Surigae is, and it’s possible that the 180 mph intensity is an underestimate.
In numbers: The storm is the first Category 5 tropical cyclone (a category that includes hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones) to occur in 2021. Typically there are about 18 Category 4 and 5 storms around the world each year.
- The storm jumped from a Category 1 storm at 90 mph to a super typhoon at 180 mph at Category 5 on Friday 24 hours later, a staggering rate of intensification more than double the criteria for rapid intensification.
Driving with this news: The number of high-value tropical cyclones is increasing as the world continues to warm.
- Projections show that future Atlantic hurricane seasons, for example, could bring a higher proportion of Category 4 and 5 storms, although it is not yet clear whether the total number of storms will increase.
- There is some evidence, including from the 2020 record in the Atlantic hurricane season, that more storms in the North Atlantic basin are rapidly intensifying, which can be extremely dangerous if the intensity increases near land.
- Super typhoons like Surigae feed on warm ocean water and moist air masses, both of which become more and more abundant as sea and air temperatures rise in response to human-induced global warming.
It comes down to: Super Typhoon Surigae will pass through the eastern Philippines on Sunday and be close enough to bring dangerously high surf, heavy rain, and gusty winds to the eastern and northeastern parts of the country, including the eastern Visayas.