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Subject: E2) Which tropical cyclone intensified the fastest?
Contributed by Chris Landsea
Hurricane Wilma in 2005 went from 954 mb to 901 mb in a 5 hour
23 minute period for a 9.8 mb/hr pressure drop. The winds went from
70 to 82 m/s (130 kt to 160 kt, 150 mph to 184 mph) in that period. Hurricane
Beulah in 1967 underwent a 6.33 mb/hr drop over a six hour period.
In the West Pacific, Typhoon Forrest in September 1983 deepened by 100 mb
(976 to 876 mb) in just under 24 hr (Roger Edson, personal communication)
. Estimated surface sustained winds increased a maximum of 15 m/s
(30 kt, 35 mph) in 6 hr and 44 m/s (85 kt, 98 mph) in one day (from 33 to
77 m/s [65 to 150 kt, 75 to 173 mph]).
Revised November 28, 2006
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