Typhoon Nolo has crossed the international dateline in the Pacific, retaining major-storm strength while remaining far from land. The system, formerly a hurricane before moving into the Northwest Pacific, was located about 395 miles west-southwest of Lisianski Island on Sunday and traveling west at 17 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The storm rapidly intensified Saturday to Category 3 strength. As it adopted the new basin designation, forecasters reported maximum sustained winds near 115 mph in the final advisory issued from Miami.
“The good news is there’s a large, vast ocean, so even though it is still going to be strong, it’s not near any land,” said John Cangialosi, a senior hurricane specialist with the center.
Typhoon Nolo remains over open ocean
Storm terminology varies by region. Systems with sustained winds over 74 mph are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic and the central and eastern Pacific, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
In the Northwest Pacific, the same intensity earns the name typhoon. In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the generic term tropical cyclone is used regardless of strength.
Forecasters expect Nolo to continue tracking west across the Pacific through Friday without threatening land.
The system passed near Hawaiʻi about a week ago as a hurricane, then weakened to a tropical storm before regaining hurricane strength on Friday ahead of its transition to Typhoon Nolo.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, Hurricane Rachel continued moving west on a track away from Mexico. Even as it moved farther offshore, the system was sending hazardous surf and swells toward west-central Mexico and the Baja California Peninsula, forecasters said, similar to impacts described during Tropical Storm Polo to soak U.S. after Mexico landfalls.
