Cimaron (Northwestern Pacific Ocean) 2018

Aug. 24, 2018 – NASA’s Aqua Satellite Finds an Extra-Tropical Cyclone Cimaron

Cimaron has crossed the big island of Japan and became an extra-tropical cyclone. NASA’s Aqua satellite looked at Cimaron in infrared light and saw cloud tops were warming as the elongated storm weakened.

NASA’s Aqua satellite observed Cimaron in infrared light that revealed cloud top temperatures on Aug. 24 at 12:40 a.m. EDT (4:40 UTC) were coldest (yellow) and as cold as minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45.5 degrees Celsius) in west central Japan. Credit: NASA/NRL

On Aug. 24 at 12:40 a.m. EDT (4:40 UTC) the MODIS instrument or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard Aqua saw cloud tops dropped in the atmosphere and warmed, indicating the uplift of air in the storm was weakening.

Infrared data provided cloud top temperatures. The coldest clouds were the strongest storms. NASA’s Aqua satellite found two areas where cloud top temperatures were coldest and as cold as minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45.5 degrees Celsius). One larger area was located in west central Japan and moving into the Sea of Japan. The second smaller area was located over east central Japan.

On Aug. 24 at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued the final bulletin on Extratropical Storm Cimaron. The storm had crossed central Japan and was emerging into the Sea of Japan. It was centered near 40.8 degrees north latitude and 137.7 degrees east longitude, about 161 miles west of Misawa, Japan. Cimaron was moving to the north-northeast and had maximum sustained winds near 45 knots (52 mph/83 kph).

Cimaron was moving northeast and has become extra-tropical and asymmetric. Computer forecast models show that Soulik and Cimaron would remain two separate systems. Soulik is located to the southwest of Cimaron

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center