Typhoon Noru Likely to Affect Japan Later This Week
Typhoon Noru is currently located to the south of Japan and sustained winds are estimated to be 90 knots (about 105 mph). Noru has had quite the interesting lifecycle over the past few weeks. It began as tropical depression in the eastern portion of the Western Pacific basin on July 20. Due to weak steering currents in the region, and somewhat unfavorable conditions, it meandered slowly and only intensified modestly throughout its first week. Then, rapid intensification occurred this past weekend as it tapped into very warm waters and became a super typhoon with 140 knot (about 160 mph) sustained winds.
Global model guidance continues to latch onto the idea that Noru will track toward southern/southwestern Japan or the Ryukyu Islands over the coming days. It is important to note that several more changes to the track will be possible in the days to come. Nevertheless, typhoon force winds along with storm surge and significant rainfall will be possible across this region.
As of this morning, WeatherOps has issued 48 advisories for Noru. Given the still somewhat slow forward speed, it is probable that the number of advisories will approach 70 before all is said and done.
What is the longest distance travelled by a tropical cyclone in history? That award goes to Hurricane/Typhoon John which persisted for 31 days, from August 11 until September 11, 1994. John started as a wave in the tropical Atlantic and crossed into the Northeastern Pacific where it eventually became a hurricane. Then as it crossed the International Date Line it was designated a typhoon. It then crossed the Date Line a second time and became John once again before dissipating. In all, it tracked a distance of about of 7,115 nautical miles (or about 8,190 statute miles) as a tropical cyclone! While Noru will likely not last that long, it has certainly been a long lived and interesting cyclone to track over the last 13 days.
Some other interesting tropical cyclone historical records can be found here.
