Bailu – Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Aug. 21, 2019 – NASA Finds Tropical Depression Bailu Forms East of Philippines

NASA’s Terra satellite passed over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean and captured an image of newly developed Tropical Depression Bailu, east of the Philippines.

Terra image of Bailu
On Aug. 20, 2019, the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite provided a visible image of Tropical Depression Bailu in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

On Aug. 20, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite provided a visible image of Bailu in the Philippine Sea. The storm appeared somewhat elongated.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Bailu was located near latitude 15.9 degrees north and longitude 130.7 degrees east. Bailu was about 674 nautical miles south-southwest of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Bailu was moving to the northwest and had maximum sustained winds near 30 knots (34.5 mph/55.5 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Bailu to move northwest and make landfall in Taiwan, then proceed to a second landfall in southeastern China.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center