Axios: “Super Typhoon Surigae surged in intensity from a Category 1 storm on Friday to a beastly Category 5 monster on Saturday, with maximum sustained winds estimated at 190 mph with higher gusts. 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 feat that studies show is becoming more common due to climate change. It weakened slightly, to the equivalent of a strong Category 4 storm, on Sunday. The storm set a record for the strongest tropical cyclone during the month of April anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere.”
“The storm will recurve out to sea just northeast of the Philippines, sparing the disaster-prone country from its worst impacts, but it will bring heavy rains, high seas and gusty winds to some areas. It may also help shake up weather patterns far downstream, including across North America, over the next few weeks. The storm maxed out at the top end of the scale according to techniques that meteorologists use to estimate storm intensity via satellites, scoring an 8 out of 8 on one particular metric, which is unusual. Since aircraft do not fly into West Pacific typhoons the way they do in the Atlantic, we may never know how strong Super Typhoon Surigae was, and it’s possible the 190 mph intensity was an underestimate.”