{"id":2603,"date":"2026-04-14T06:44:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T06:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/?p=2603"},"modified":"2026-04-14T06:44:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T06:44:23","slug":"super-typhoon-sinlaku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/?p=2603","title":{"rendered":"Super Typhoon Sinlaku – NASA Science"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In mid-April 2026, a powerful typhoon bore down on the Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean. The storm, Super Typhoon Sinlaku, was notable for reaching such exceptional strength so early in the year.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0VIIRS<\/a>\u00a0(Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the\u00a0Suomi NPP satellite<\/a>\u00a0captured this image\u00a0at about 03:30 Universal Time (1:30 p.m. local time) on April 13, 2026, as Sinlaku approached the islands. At the time, the storm carried sustained winds of around 280 kilometers (175 miles) per hour. That places it as a violent typhoon\u2014the highest intensity on the scale<\/a> used by the Japan Meteorological Agency and equivalent to a category 5 storm on the\u00a0Saffir-Simpson wind scale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The storm continued along its northwest track toward the Marianas on the morning of April 14, as storm bands began to bring heavy rain to the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, according to an update<\/a> from the National Weather Service. Forecasts<\/a> called for typhoon conditions to affect Saipan and Tinian from April 14 into April 15 before subsiding to tropical storm conditions.<\/p>\n

Though Super Typhoon Sinlaku occurred in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, it formed gravity waves that were visible much higher. The VIIRS<\/a>\u00a0(Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the\u00a0NOAA-20<\/a>\u00a0satellite captured this nighttime image<\/a> of the concentric waves made visible<\/a> in the mesosphere by airglow<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sinlaku is the second category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026, following Horacio<\/a>, which churned over the South Indian Ocean in late February. Meteorologists note<\/a> that Sinlaku is also one of only a handful of category 5 typhoons\u2014a tropical cyclone<\/a> that occurs in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean\u2014known to have occurred so early in the year.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, several other storms spun over the planet\u2019s oceans. On April 10, Tropical Cyclone Maila rotated in the opposite direction<\/a> across the equator, and on April 12, Tropical Cyclone Vaianu crossed New Zealand\u2019s North Island<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS data from NASA\u00a0EOSDIS LANCE<\/a>,\u00a0GIBS\/Worldview<\/a>, and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership<\/a>. Story by Kathryn Hansen.<\/em><\/p>\n