John Bolaris: Is Typhoon Nuri most powerful, non-tropical storm ever?

Typhoon Nuri in the western Pacific Ocean will lose its tropical characteristics as it barrels toward the Bering Sea at the same time it interacts with a superstrong polar jet stream.

This will act as lighter fluid for the storm, causing it to perhaps become one of the strongest storms ever to roam the planet — non-tropical related.

We measure storm intensities through atmospheric pressure. One of the lowest measured pressures was Hurricane Hugo (which I actually flew into with hurricane hunters in 1989) with a measurement of 918 millibars. The projected pressure with the Bering Sea monster could go as low as 920 millibars.

Alaska's Aleutian Islands will get pounded with hurricane force winds of 75 miles per hour. Wave heights off the western Aleutian islands will average 45 feet.

This massive storm could actually play a role in our weather as it should help the polar jet to take a dip — the powerful river of air in the upper atmosphere that snakes around the polar region. When it dips, this allows polar air to invade south of the Canadian border and right into our neck of the woods. At the same time, the Arctic Oscillation (AO) is becoming negative, which helps to enhance a colder air entrance way into the Northeastern United States.

It will be very interesting to see how the atmosphere sets up over the next couple of weeks. Right now, indications are for a colder and more stormy mid-November.