earth in recent years (Fig. c). New results from Lin et al. (GRL Feb. 2009) found that due to the presence of pre-existing warm ocean feature (as observed by satellite altimeters, Fig. a), Nargis rapidly intensified (RI) from a weak category-1 cyclone to an intense category-4 cyclone within 24h (06Z 1 May to 06Z 2 May, Fig.b). As the RI took place just prior to landfall, the impact was catastrophic.
