HOW DID SUCH A PERFECT EYE FORM WITHIN SUPER TYPHOON NEPARTAK! (credit: Dan Lindsey)

DISCUSSION: Over the last 72 to 96 hours, as Tropical Storm Nepartak underwent several periods of rapid intensification, truly phenomenal inner-core structual detail took shape fairly quickly.  As this tropical cyclone underwent that very rapid intensification, the associated pressure gradient developing within the storm was so intense that internal atmospheric features known as gravity waves began to emerge and radiate outward from the center of Nepartak.  Gravity waves tend to form within rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones as a consequence of localized elevated instability which forces the anti-cyclonically rotating cloud structure to move outward from the center and is observed as "ripples moving away from the center of storm."  The presence of these gravity waves are a strong indication of the brute force which has been associated with this very powerful tropical cyclone. Before videos and images begin to come in from world news networks, the entire GWCC team sends our thoughts and prayers out to the people of Taiwan and hopefully people were able to take the necessary precautions ahead of this incredibly dangerous storm!  If you or someone you know lives in any of the more densely populated cities of Eastern China, urge them to make their final preparations now since this typhoon will continues to remain to be a very dangerous threat to many parts of Eastern China over the next few days!  To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across the Western Pacific Ocean, be sure to click here!

Here's the full-day loop showing the cool cloud structures inside #Nepartak's eye - #Himawari 500-m VIS, 2.5-min pic.twitter.com/BtINtcxI1V

— Dan Lindsey (@DanLindsey77) July 7, 2016