If you thought Super Typhoon Vongfong is this year's strongest storm, think again. Super Typhoon Nuri is on track to taking that claim away from last month's weather event.
"Barely one month after Super Typhoon Vongfong peaked at an intensity that was among the top 30 most intense such storms on record, Super Typhoon Nuri rapidly intensified on Sunday to rival or beat that milestone," Mashable reported. "The storm is located over the open ocean, hundreds of miles to the south of Japan, and is forecast to swerve to the northeast, moving out to sea before hitting land."
Nuri has also been recorded as producing 180 miles per hour winds, which is nearly as strong (or even stronger) than Vongfong.
Fortunately for the Philippines, the monster storm has been forecasted to spare the country from its wrath, although some parts of Japan may not be as lucky.
"During its northerly track, the front moving through Japan is expected to slow down. This slow advancement of the front will allow Nuri to make an approach on Japan for the end of the week," AccuWeather noted. "Even so, it remains likely the Nuri will pass to the east of Japan and out into the open Pacific Ocean by next weekend."
"While the storm tracks north, it will also be influenced by a cold surge pouring in out of Siberia; this will bring gale force winds across Korea, the Southern Japanese islands and much of Mainland Japan. In fact some snowfall is also expected across the mountains of Honshu and Hokkaido," Westernpacificweather.com also said.
It has also been noted that Nuri, despite its rapid development, may be less likely to top Super Typhoon Haiyan's intensity. Haiyan, which wreaked havoc and thousands of deaths in Tacloban, Leyte in the Philippines, had registered 190 miles per hour winds and "a massive storm surge," Mashable said.
The site also said that the massive storm may influence weather conditions in North America about a week or two from now.
"Typhoons that move into the northern Pacific, transforming into large, non-tropical storm systems as they do so, can influence the course of the jet stream thousands of miles downstream," the news source explained. "The jet stream is the highway of fast-moving air at jetliner altitudes that steers weather systems from west to east across the Northern Hemisphere, and storms like Super Typhoon Nuri can cause dips or waves to develop along it.
"This can lead to major storms and cold air outbreaks over the continental U.S. in the early fall to winter," Mashable added.
This season, the west Pacific area has churned out five super typhoons, reportedly due to "unusually high sea surface temperatures in some parts of the region."
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