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Could Tropical Cylone Funso Reach Category 5?

Jan 23, 2012; 7:37 PM ET

UPDATE 1/26/2012: Now *that* is a close-up satellite shot of the storm, my friends. Behold the eye! 120 knots (mph) was as high as it went.

Click below to see an animated version of this 3-D precipitation radar.

UPDATE 1/25/2012: We have updated our news story again; Funso is still a Category 4. The storm is looking better on satellite and has seen winds increase to 120 knots, but the maximum forecast winds are not expected to get higher.

UPDATE 1/24/2012: We have issued an updated news article with morning details on the storm. Super Typhoon Funso remains a weak Category 4 storm, and the Navy forecast has been downgraded to 125 knots, a solid Category 4. A better satellite photo has surfaced:

1/23/2012: Deadly Cyclone Funso could make a run at Category 5 intensity, which would seem to be pretty impressive as it's wedged in-between Madagascar and Africa. NASA's TRMM satellite says that over 20 inches of rain has fallen in the past week from this storm and Tropical Cyclone Dando, which was in the area last week.

The Global Post says that 22 people have perished in flooding in Mozambique. The storm has been a slow mover; the Navy's forecast is for it to mosey southwest along the coast. They predict its top strength to be with 140 knot (161 mph) sustained winds with gusts to 170 (196 mph) -- a Category 5 hurricane! Right now (Monday evening) it's at a "mere' 115 knots - 132 mph storm which (barely) qualifies for Category 4. Click below for their latest forecast.

Some meteorologists did not think it would reach Category 5 -- although Elliot Abrams pointed out late last week that the GFS & ECMWF models predicted it would. Fellow meteorologist Dan Kottlowski disagreed, pointing out that AccuWeather's own internal "hurrtracker" program, which estimates wind speeds for tropical storms, showed the ECMWF tagging 78-knot winds as of their Friday forecast, with the GFS at 77, both being a Category 1 storm. There's not a whole lot of satellite coverage in that part of the world but the Navy's multi-sensor did capture this image earlier:

Our latest news story update is here.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

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