NASA captures strange waves high above Hurricane Simon
As Hurricane Simon unleashed destructive winds and flooding along Mexico’s coast, NASA satellites captured an extraordinary sight: massive atmospheric waves rippling high above the storm. The rare images reveal how powerful hurricanes can disturb the upper atmosphere, creating patterns that are usually invisible from space.
Key points
- Hurricane Simon reached Category 4 with 250 km/h winds near Mexico's Pacific coast on October 11, 2026.
- NASA's Suomi NPP satellite captured the storm's eye about 50 km offshore between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta.
- Satellites detected atmospheric gravity waves rippling high above the hurricane in the upper atmosphere.
Hurricane Simon battered Mexico's Pacific coast with powerful winds and flooding while staying offshore, and NASA satellites captured enormous waves rippling through Earth's upper atmosphere above the storm. The Category 4 hurricane was the latest in a series of powerful tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific during the 2026 season. On October 11, 2026, it moved north-northwest with sustained winds of 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour.
At about 2:30 p.m. local time (20:30 Universal Time) on October 11, the VIIRS instrument on NASA's Suomi NPP satellite imaged the storm. Simon's eye was then roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) offshore, between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta. The National Hurricane Center said sustained winds had weakened to about 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour by the time of the image, though the inner core still threatened coastal communities.
Storm impacts and terrain
The Sierra Madre mountains appeared to help limit Simon's strength, reducing its intensity and shrinking the wind-affected area. Even so, the hurricane brought torrential rainfall and flooding to coastal communities, including the port city of Manzanillo. News reports said the heavy rain also increased the threat of dangerous mudslides in mountainous regions.
very low confidence
— the National Hurricane Center
Waves high above the storm
During the early morning of October 11, the storm generated disturbances that traveled into Earth's upper atmosphere. A nighttime image from the VIIRS instrument on NOAA-21 revealed atmospheric gravity waves spreading outward from the hurricane. These waves form when intense activity near the eyewall releases latent heat, fueling convection that pushes warm, moist air upward into towering cumulonimbus clouds.
Strong updrafts can disturb the surrounding atmosphere, sending waves into the stratosphere and mesosphere. Unlike ocean waves, these disturbances move through air, with gravity as a restoring force. High-altitude winds can weaken or disperse them before they reach the mesosphere, where they may become visible through airglow, a faint natural light from high atmospheric gases. The VIIRS day-night band can detect this light, but moonlight can obscure it; unusually low lunar illumination let the ripples stand out clearly.
Uncertain forecast path
By the morning of October 13, meteorologists were still struggling to predict Simon's path and strength. The National Hurricane Center described confidence in its intensity and track forecasts as "very low confidence," noting the storm had repeatedly behaved differently than expected. One possibility was that Simon could turn northward, enter the Gulf of California and eventually make landfall. Large ocean swells were expected to create hazardous conditions along parts of Mexico's southwestern and west-central coastlines in the following days.
