[NASA] Super Typhoon Sinlaku

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3. Super Typhoon Sinlaku

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Super Typhoon Sinlaku spins over the North Pacific Ocean in this image acquired on April 13, 2026, with the

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 (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the 

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NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison

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.

The 

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 (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the 

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 captured this image at 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—the highest intensity on

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used by the Japan Meteorological Agency and equivalent to a category 5 storm on the 

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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

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from the National Weather Service.

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called for typhoon conditions to affect Saipan and Tinian from April 14 into April 15 before subsiding to tropical storm conditions.

Though Super Typhoon Sinlaku occurred in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, it formed gravity waves that were visible much higher. The

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 (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the 

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 satellite captured this

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of the concentric waves

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in the mesosphere by

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Sinlaku is the second category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026,

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, which churned over the South Indian Ocean in late February. Meteorologists

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that Sinlaku is also one of only a handful of category 5 typhoons—a

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that occurs in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean—known to have occurred so early in the year.

Meanwhile, several other storms spun over the planet’s oceans. On April 10, Tropical Cyclone Maila rotated in the

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across the equator, and on April 12, Tropical Cyclone Vaianu

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. 

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS data from NASA 

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, 

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, and the

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. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

Downloads

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April 13, 2026

JPEG (2.47 MB)

References & Resources

• CIMSS Satellite Blog (2026, April 12)
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  . Accessed April 13, 2026.
• Japan Meteorological Agency (2026, April 13)
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  . Accessed April 13, 2026.
• Joint Typhoon Warning Center (2026, April 13)
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  . Accessed April 13, 2026.
• National Weather Service (2026, April 14)
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  . Accessed April 13, 2026.
• Yale Climate Connections (2026, April 12)
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  . Accessed April 13, 2026.
• Yale Climate Connections (2026, February 23)
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  . Accessed April 13, 2026.

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