Super Typhoon Mawar, the most powerful storm system on Earth in more than two years, is wreaking havoc in the Pacific with 70-foot waves and 200-mph winds.
The meteorological monster may remain Category 5-equivalent for days before decreasing near Taiwan.
Super Typhoon Surigae went from Category 2 to 5 in one day. On Wednesday, the Category 4 hurricane passed north of Guam, bringing Category 2 winds and heavy rainfall.
It's back to Category 5 and one of the top 10 strongest storms since 2000. Mawar equals the world's heaviest May storms and beats 2022's.
The storm is random, but rising waters and human-caused climate change are causing more violent and faster-intensifying storms.
Mawar recorded 145 knots (165 mph) winds Friday AM Eastern time. It was completely symmetrical on satellite, indicating intense wrath encircling a strangely peaceful and hollowed-out eye.
The tremendous upward motion of the eyewall has pushed density ripples through the tropopause, the lower atmosphere's "ceiling," creating gravity waves in Mawar's overcast.
Only eight West Pacific typhoons have reached Category 5 equivalent classification in May since 1950, with gusts of 157 mph or more. 9. Mawar.
The U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated Mawar's eyewall winds at 160 knots (185 mph) on Thursday night Eastern time. Gusts were 215 mph.
Phyllis, a 1958 West Pacific typhoon, temporarily reached 185 mph strength. No storm globally has done that in May.
Only 13 typhoons have exceeded 185 mph since 1979.
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