Four storms churned in the Western Pacific Ocean: NASA captures rare sight

In an article for NASA's Earth Observatory, Emily Cassidy describes an extraordinary meteorological event over the Western Pacific. According to Cassidy, NASA’s EPIC instrument on the DSCOVR satellite captured an image on 11 November 2024, of four simultaneous storms—Yinxing, Toraji, Usagi, and Man-Yi—either approaching or just past the Philippines. The Japan Meteorological Agency confirmed that this was the first occurrence of four November storms on record in the Pacific basin since 1951.

At the time the image was taken, Typhoon Toraji, known locally as Nika, had just made landfall on northeastern Luzon, unleashing flooding, power outages in Aurora Province, and landslides in the Cordillera mountain range. This storm reached peak intensity with winds of 130 kilometers per hour on the evening before its landfall. Typhoon Yinxing, or Marce, had already struck Luzon days earlier, with winds peaking at 240 kilometers per hour, classifying it as a super typhoon equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. It later weakened before hitting Vietnam.

Typhoon Usagi, locally called Ofel, followed closely on Toraji’s path and intensified to super typhoon strength soon after the image was taken. By 13 November, Usagi's winds reached 240 kilometers per hour, and it was projected to impact the Philippines shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Man-Yi, still in the eastern Pacific, was forecast to intensify and potentially make landfall around 17 November.

NASA’s image, credited to Wanmei Liang and reported by Cassidy, highlights the frequency and intensity of recent storms that have impacted the Philippines, including Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-Rey in late October. Typically, November sees three named storms, with one intensifying into a super typhoon. However, the convergence of four powerful storms in one month marks an unusual event for the region.