Extratropical Typhoon Nuri To Create Hurricane-Strong Winds, Giant Waves Around Alaska's Aleutian Islands
Weather observers have warned marine vessels to be cautious of the weather conditions in the Bering Sea and Alaska's Aleutian Islands in the next few days triggered by extratropical typhoon Nuri.
A hurricane force wind warning has been issued by the National Weather Service in Anchorage for the waters surrounding the far western Aleutians as well as parts of the southwestern Bering Sea. The Weather Channel reported Nuri's sustained winds could reach 80 mph in those areas.
Nuri is expected to merge with the jet stream and create a very strong disturbance in the mid-latitude belt of westerly winds. Once the warm, tropical air crashes into mountain of cold air, a violent explosion of meteorological energy will occur called bombogenesis. According to WeatherPrediction.com, "bombogenesis typically occurs between a cold continental air mass and warm ocean waters or between a cold polar air mass and a much warmer air mass."
Nuri's central pressure, during that bombogenesis, will intensify and deepen from 970 MB late Thursday to between 918 to 922 MB late Friday. When this happens, waves as high as 40 to 50 feet will thrash the Aleutian Islands. The islands will also receive winds gusts of up to 100 mph.
"The storm will influence the jet stream and atmospheric patterns across the Northern Hemisphere that will likely bring the year's first round of arctic air into the regions," portal EarthSky said. A huge part of the United States will also experience cold temperatures which could drop to single digits in the coming days, probably from November 13-15.
The Capital Weather Gang said Nuri will also force cold, Arctic air to surge south in the central and eastern U.S. over the next few weeks. "The first in a series of strong cold fronts is expected on Friday, while forecast models suggest a deeper push of cold air can be expected next week."
Nuri was born on Oct 31 as a tropical depression but quickly became a tropical storm. It immediately reached typhoon status just the following day and then underwent a period of very rapid intensification. By the afternoon of Nov 2, its maximum 1-minute sustained winds hit 180 mph. It stayed there through 7 a.m. EST the following day, thus putting it in the same league as with October's Super Typhoon Vongfong for the strongest tropical cyclone of 2014.
By the evening of Nov 5, Nuri has weakened to a tropical storm with sustained winds of 65 mph. It was at this time that it started changing from a tropical system into a post-tropical system. It is expected to regain strength once it joins up with the jet stream, becoming a powerful post-tropical cyclone over the Bering Sea.