Typhoon Higos had just acquired Level 4 Super Typhoon status as the time this image was acquired on September 29th with winds of 135 knots (1 knot = 1.15 mph). Higos began on September 26th as a tropical depression (with less than 34 knot winds) and grew to a tropical storm (34-63 knot winds) that same day. All throughout the 26th and 27th, Higos fluctuated between being a tropical depression and storm, and even dissipated twice. But finally, late on the 27th, Higos became a typhoon. Thereafter, its growth was rapid. On the 28th it grew from a level 1 to a level 3, and on the 29th it became a level 4, with 135-knot maximum sustained winds.