Long-Lived Typhoon Noru Hammers Japan With Heavy Rain

Noru made its final landfall Monday in central Japan after a long and looping journey through the western Pacific Ocean.

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Noru was equivalent in strength to a Category 1 hurricane as its center crossed land over Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka, about 1 a.m. EDT or 3 p.m. local time Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, local time, more than 25 inches of rain fell in 72 hours in Naze, Japan, on Amami Oshima. In eastern Shikoku, the town of Tokushima measured over 13 inches of rain in just 24 hours through Monday afternoon.

A wind gust of 89 mph was recorded at Cape Muroto, on Shikoku, with sustained winds near 79 mph.

Noru was a tropical cyclone for over two weeks since first becoming a tropical depression on July 20. Here's a recap of what happened before it impacted Japan.

Noru's Rapid Intensification

Noru strengthened from a tropical storm with estimated 70-mph winds (60 knots) to a Category 5 super typhoon with estimated 160-mph winds (140 knots) in just 18 hours from 8 p.m. EDT July 29 to 2 p.m. EDT July 30, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

It's stint as a Category 5 equivalent didn't last long as Noru weakened on Monday, July 31.

(MORE: Stunning Images of Noru)

Fujiwhara Effect

Named after a Japanese researcher who discovered this in experiments with water in the early 1920s, the Fujiwhara effect details how two tropical cyclones less than 900 miles apart rotate counter-clockwise about one another.

Think of the teacup ride at Disney or the Tilt-a-Whirl at your local county fair, but with tropical systems instead. In the teacup ride, adjacent teacups can not only spin, but revolve about each other.

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While Kulap had degenerated to a remnant, one could still pick out its leftover circulation in Himawari-8 visible satellite imagery July 27 south-southwest of Noru.

Thanks in part to the Fujiwhara interaction, Noru crossed its path from the previous week completing an oval-shaped loop.

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