Typhoon Noru was the second-longest lasting
tropical cyclone of the northwest Pacific Ocean on record. The fifth named storm of the
2017 Pacific typhoon season, it formed on July 19 and reached peak intensity on July 31 with 175 km/h (110 mph) 10-minute sustained winds. By this time, as shown in this satellite image, the
typhoon was located south of
Iwo Jima, and had taken on
annular characteristics, with a symmetric ring of deep convection surrounding a 30 km (19 mi) well defined eye and fairly uniform cloud top temperatures. Traveling northwestward over an area of low ocean heat content, the eye became enlarged and ragged as the system weakened. By the time Noru made
landfall over
Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on August 7, it had been downgraded to a severe tropical storm. It then dissipated over the
Sea of Japan on August 9 as an
extratropical cyclone.
Photograph credit: NASA; edited by Meow