Super Typhoon Surigae rose in intensity from a Category 1 storm on Friday to a Category 5 monster on Saturday, with sustained maximum winds estimated at 180 mph with larger gusts.
Why does it matter: This storm – known as Typhoon Bising in the Philippines – is just the latest of many tropical cyclones to undergo a process known as rapid intensification, a fact that studies show is becoming more common due to climate change.
- The storm appears destined to return to the sea northeast of the Philippines, relieving the country prone to disasters from its worst effects, but it will bring heavy rains, high seas and high winds in some areas.
- It can also help with shaking weather patterns far downstream, including in North America, in the next few weeks.
Details: The storm reached the top of the scale according to the techniques that meteorologists use to estimate the intensity of the storm through satellites, scoring an 8 out of 8 to some extent, which is unusual.
- Note: Because planes do not fly in typhoons in the Western Pacific as they do in the Atlantic, we may never know how strong the Super Typhoon Surigae is and the 180 mph speed may be underestimated.
By 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 approximately 18 Category 4 and 5 storms worldwide each year.
- The storm jumped from a Category 1 storm on Friday of 90 mph to a super typhoon of category 5 mph 24 hours later, an amazing rate of intensification that is more than double the criteria of rapid intensification.
Leading this news: The number of state-of-the-art tropical cyclones increases as the world continues to warm.
- Projections show that future hurricane seasons in the Atlantic, 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 evidence, including from the record hurricane season of 2020, that several storms in the North Atlantic Ocean basin are intensifying rapidly, which can be extremely dangerous if the intensity increases near land.
- Super typhoons such as Surigae feed on the warm waters of the ocean and humid air masses, both of which are becoming more abundant as sea and air temperatures heat up in response to man-made global warming.
Bottom line: Super Typhoon Surigae will pass east of the Philippines on Sunday and will be close enough to bring a high risk of rain, heavy rains and fine winds in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country, including the eastern Visayas.