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NASA has released a collection of satellite images showing the strongest storm of each year over the past decade.
The set of pictures includes the strongest hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon over any ocean in any given year. Storm strength is determined by the highest wind speed. The images were all captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra or Aqua satellites and are all shown at the same scale.
Of the decade’s most powerful storms, two were in the Atlantic/Caribbean basin, five were in the Pacific north of the equator, and three were in the South Pacific.
Wilma, which made landfall on the island of Cozumel, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Florida in October 2005, holds the record for the strongest storm on record based on windspeed. Damray, a May 2000 typhoon which never reached land, had the lowest minimum pressure at 878 millibars, followed by Wilma at 882 millibars.
The costliest storms of the decade for each region — 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in the Atlantic Basin, 2004’s Typhoon Songda in the western Pacific, and 2008’s Cyclone Nargis in the Indian Ocean — did not make the list.
2000 Damrey
Damrey—Date of image: May 9, 2000; Maximum Wind Speed: 290km/h (180 mph); Minimum Pressure: 878 millibars; Western Pacific Basin
2001 Faxai
Faxai—Date of image: December 22, 2001; Maximum Wind Speed: 290km/h (180 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 915 millibars; Western Pacific Basin
2002 Zoe
Zoe—Date of image: December 28, 2002; Maximum Wind Speed: 285km/h (177 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 890 millibars; South Pacific Basin
2003 Maemi
Maemi—Date of image: September 10, 2003; Maximum Wind Speed: 280km/h (174 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 910 millibars; Western Pacific Basin
2004 Chaba
Chaba—Date of image: August 23, 2004; Maximum Wind Speed: 290km/h (180 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 879 millibars; Western Pacific Basin
2005 Wilma
Wilma—Date of image: October 18, 2005; Maximum Wind Speed: 295km/h (183 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 882 millibars; Atlantic/Caribbean Basin
2006 Monica
Monica—Date of image: April 24, 2006; Maximum Wind Speed: 285km/h (177 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 905 millibars; South Pacific Basin
2007 Dean
Dean—Date of image: August 18, 2007; Maximum Wind Speed: 280km/h (174 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 907 millibars; Atlantic/Caribbean Basin
2008 Jangmi
Jangmi—Date of image: September 27, 2008; Maximum Wind Speed: 260km/h (162 mph mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 905 millibars; Western Pacific Basin
2009 Hamish
Hamish—Date of image: March 8, 2009; Maximum Wind Speed: 240km/h (149 mph); Minimum Pressure millibars: 925 millibars; South Pacific Basin
World of Change: Severe Storms