Tropical Cyclone
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NASA
A Trio of Tropical Cyclones in the Pacific
When hurricane forecasters released their seasonal outlooks in spring 2026, the El Niño brewing in the Pacific contributed to predictions of below-normal activity in the Atlantic basin but above-normal activity in the northeastern and central Pacific basins. In early September, near the climatological peak of hurricane season, those spring outlooks were on target, with the eastern Pacific buzzing with activity and the Atlantic notably quiet. As of…
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NASA
Cyclone Rains Spur Papua New Guinea Landslides
Since much of Papua New Guinea lies close to the equator where the Coriolis effect is weak, the risk of tropical cyclones striking the island nation is relatively low, especially in its northern areas. Nevertheless, unusually warm sea surface temperatures and atmospheric conditions favorable to storm formation brought powerful Tropical Cyclone Maila dangerously close to the islands of Bougainville, New Britain, and New Ireland in April 2026, fueling intense…
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NASA
Senyar Swamps Sumatra
Tropical cyclones almost never form over the Strait of Malacca. The narrow waterway separating Peninsular Malaysia from the Indonesian island of Sumatra sits so close to the equator that the Coriolis effect is usually too weak to allow storms to rotate enough to organize into cyclones. But on November 25, 2025, meteorologists watched as a tropical depression intensified into Cyclone Senyar—just the…
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