An aggressive tempest that encircled Saturn around two years back was much more powerful than scientists had initially estimated, a new analysis of data compiled by NASA's Cassini spacecraft revealed.

According to the new analysts, the massive Saturn storm, which was first spotted in December 2010, pushed temperatures in the stratosphere of the planet soaring 66 degrees Celsius (150 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal.

Lead researcher Brigette Hesman, of NASA's Greenbelt, Md.-based Goddard Space Flight Center, described the temperature spike as "almost unbelievable," pointing out the fact that temperature in Saturn's stratosphere typically remain very stable.

Commenting on the findings, Hesman added, "To get a temperature change of the same scale on Earth, you'd be going from the depths of winter in Fairbanks, Alaska, to the height of summer in the Mojave Desert."

At the time of the massive storm, a huge spike of ethylene was also detected. Ethylene apparently generated 100 times more of the odorless as well as colorless gas than had previously been thought possible for the planet. The origin ethylene is still a big mystery for researchers.

NASA scientists said the new findings will provide them with new insight into some of the photochemical processes at work in Saturn's stratosphere.