page_title: Typhoon Noul (2015)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Noul (2015) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: English: Tropical Storm Noul in the Western Pacific Ocean. Español: La tormenta tropical Noul en el océano Pacífico occidental.
context_page_description: Typhoon Noul, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Dodong, was a relatively small but powerful tropical cyclone that affected several areas but caused minor damage. The sixth named storm and third typhoon of the annual typhoon season, Noul formed as a tropical depression over the eastern Caroline Islands on May 2, 2015. It moved generally to the west and west-northwest, gradually intensifying into a tropical storm and later typhoon. On May 9, Noul began rapid deepening as it developed a well-defined eye. Early the next day, the Japan Meteorological Agency estimated peak 10 minute sustained winds of 205 km/h, while the American-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated peak 1 minute winds of 260 km/h, equivalent to Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Noul struck northeastern Luzon in the Philippines at that intensity and greatly weakened. After passing east of Taiwan, the typhoon accelerated to the northeast and weakened due to unfavorable conditions. On May 12, Noul became extratropical south of Japan, and the remnants continued to the northeast for several days, dissipating on May 16.
context_section_description: The origins of Noul were related to a strong westerly wind burst that also led to the formation of later Typhoon Dolphin. By April 30, 2015, an area of convection, or thunderstorms, persisted and pulsed about 230 km (145 mi) west-southwest of Chuuk State within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The system had a broad circulation amid an environment favorable for tropical cyclogenesis, including low to moderate wind shear. The circulation slowly consolidated, developing improved outflow and increasingly organized convection. At 06:00 UTC on May 2, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) designated the system as a tropical depression about 850 km (525 mi) west-southwest of Chuuk. At 00:00 UTC the next day, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) classified the system as Tropical Depression 06W.
  The nascent tropical cyclone moved northwestward through a weakness in the subtropical ridge. Aided by decreasing wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures, the convection organized into a central dense overcast. At 18:00 UTC on May 3, the JMA upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Noul. (Korean: 노을; literally: afterglow, red sky) The strengthening ridge turned the storm to the west toward the Philippines. On May 5, an eye developed in the center of the storm while Noul was near Yap State, prompting the JTWC to upgrade the storm to typhoon status. At 18:00 UTC that day, the JMA upgraded Noul to a severe tropical storm, and later to typhoon status at 06:00 UTC on May 6. The storm's spiral rainbands became increasingly organized, although the eye initially remained cloud-filled. Early on May 7, Noul crossed 135º E into the area of responsibility of PAGASA – the Philippines' weather bureau – who assigned the local name Dodong.
  Due to radial outflow, low vertical wind shear, and water temperatures above 30°C, Noul started rapid deepening on May 9 while approaching the Philippine island of Luzon, forming a sharply well-defined 35 km (20 mi) eye embedded in a deepening symmetric core; therefore, the JTWC upgraded it to a super typhoon late on the same day. At 00:00 UTC on May 10, the JMA estimated peak 10 minute sustained winds of 205 km/h (125 mph). At the same time, the JTWC estimated peak 1 minute sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), equivalent to Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. As the typhoon neared the northeast tip of Luzon, satellite imagery showed rapid deterioration of the storm's core structure and warming of the cloud tops. According to PAGASA, at around 08:45 UTC on May 10, Noul made landfall in the Philippines at Pananapan Point in Santa Ana, Cagayan. However, the JMA and JTWC tracks do not show landfall, but instead show the center staying offshore. After its closest approach to Luzon, the storm's structure continued to deteriorate, becoming elongated and less organized due to increasing wind shear and land interaction. By late on May 10, the eye largely disappeared from satellite imagery as Noul turned northward over water, steered around the subtropical ridge. A large residual eye persisted in the center of the waning convection, although stronger wind shear increasingly disrupted the storm's structure. An approaching trough steered Noul to the northeast, bringing it east of Taiwan on May 11. By early on May 12, the storm had become increasingly elongated as dry air became entrained in the center, with the structure resembling a "comma"-shape, according to the JTWC. The agency downgraded it to a tropical storm at 00:00 UTC that day as the storm accelerated through Amami Ōshima. Six hours later, the storm became extratropical off the southern coast of Japan.
  The extratropical remnants of Noul continued to the northeast. Around 12:00 UTC on May 12, the storm passed through the Kantō region of southeastern Japan. The center quickly moved back over water and passed just east of Hokkaido on May 13. Noul slowed its forward motion while remaining south of the Kuril Islands and Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. At 06:00 UTC on May 16, the remnants of Noul dissipated near the international date line
caption: Tropical Storm Noul near Yap on May 5
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