Super Typhoon Nepartak takes aim at Taiwan

[malaise]

https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3348nip>
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Residents of Taiwan are turning worried eyes eastwards, where Super Typhoon Nepartak is steaming towards them after putting on a phenomenal display of rapid intensification. Nepartak went from a tropical storm with 70 mph winds on Monday afternoon to a Category 4 super typhoon with 150 mph winds in just 24 hours, as estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). The typhoon took advantage of light wind shear of 5 - 10 knots and extremely warm ocean waters of 31°C (88°F) to fuel its rapid intensification. Unusually warm waters extended to great depth below the storm, creating some of the highest oceanic heat content readings we see for a tropical cyclone--near 150 kJ/cm**2 (Figure 2). Satellite loops from NOAA/SSED and NOAA/RAMMB show a mighty storm with a large area of heavy thunderstorms with cold cloud tops reaching high into the atmosphere, surrounding a 15-mile diameter eye. The storm has taken on an annular appearance, with very little in the way of spiral banding. These type of storms are more resistant to weakening than typical tropical cyclones. The Japanese Meteorological Agency estimated that Nepartak had a central pressure of 925 mb at 2:45 pm EDT Tuesday.

[KelleyKramer]

1. That looks like a monster storm

Don't recall ever seeing a big hurricane that didn't have spiral arms spinning around it