Super typhoon ‘Noru’ struck west of Luzon, the main island of Philippines. After making the first landfall on Sunday, 25thSep2022, typhoon continued moving westward and made a second landfall on the mainland the same night. The super typhoon had earlier undergone explosive intensification to become Cat-IV equivalent hurricane. The storm gathered gusts up to 240kmh on the mainland of Luzon. It goes on record to become the strongest typhoon to hit Southeast Asian nation this year.
The severe storm has left 5 rescuers dead and caused flooding and power outages. It uprooted trees, smashed transmission lines and blown away the rooftops. The Philippines, an archipelago of 7000 islands in the Pacific Ocean is highly vulnerable to storms. On an average, about 20 cyclones hit the island nation per year, with a peak around August- September. Typhoon ‘Haiyan’ of 2013 was the most powerful storm ever recorded, killing 6300 people.
Typhoon Noru has since weakened to Cat-I equivalent hurricane and now entered South China Sea. The storm is heading westward towards Vietnam. Over the vast 1000km stretch of ocean between Philippines and Vietnam, it is likely to intensify further. It is expected to strike Vietnam close to Da Nang, on 28thSep morning as Cat-III equivalent hurricane. Strong and gusty winds in excess of 180kmh are expected at the time of landfall.
After making landfall over central parts of coastal Vietnam, the storm will weaken to Cat-I with in 24hr. Further, due to land interaction, it will keep dropping the guard and stoop down to become depression in the subsequent 24hr. Keeping its forward westward movement intact and after running over southern parts of Laos, it will become a low pressure area over Central Cambodia, on 30thSep. The weather system will retain its identity and head for Gulf of Martaban. Later, after crossing Arakan coast of Myanmar, it is likely to enter Bay of Bengal around 02ndOctober2022. The cyclonic circulation of this low pressure will merge with pre existing circulation over West and Central Bay of Bengal. Combined influence of these will churn another low pressure area over that region. Deep inland penetration of the weather system will extend the rainfall belt to east, south and central parts of the country. Meteorological development will be observed closely for further ramifications and shared accordingly.