Over the course of two days, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3, NASA's Aqua satellite watched from space as Tropical cyclone Nuri strengthened into a Super Typhoon and "opened" or developed an eye.
On Nov. 1, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Super Typhoon Nuri at 04:30 UTC (12:30 a.m. EDT) and it had not yet developed an eye. On Nov. 3 at 04:20 UTC (12:20 a.m. EDT) MODIS on Aqua passed over Super Typhoon Nuri again after it developed an eye. By Nov. 3 the bands of thunderstorms spiraling into the center of the low-level circulation had become more tightly wrapped. The image also showed that the widest band of thunderstorms were over the northern and eastern quadrants of the storm.
At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) on Nov. 3, Nuri's maximum sustained winds had reached 155 knots (178.4 mph/ 287.1 kph), making it a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. Some minor intensification is expected before the storm begins to weaken on Nov. 4.
Nuri was centered near 20.2 north latitude and 133.9 east longitude, about 514 nautical miles (591.5 miles/ 951.9 km) southeast of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. It was moving to the northeast at 10 knots (11.5 mph/18.5 kph). Nuri is expected to pass west of Iwo To on Nov. 5 as it continues moving in a northeasterly direction. For current weather conditions in Iwo To (also known as Iwojima), visit: http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/RJAW.html .
Nuri is expected to intensify further before weakening. Adverse conditions will cause the storm to go on a weakening trend and the storm is expected to become extra-tropical after three or four days.
Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center