Tag: Wipha 2019

Aug. 02, 2019 – NASA Satellite Finds Tropical Storm Wipha Blankets the Gulf of Tonkin

Visible satellite imagery from NASA’s Aqua satellite showed the clouds from Tropical Storm Wipha blanketing the Gulf of Tonkin.

The Gulf of Tonkin is a body of water located in the northern part of the South China Sea. It is located off the coast of northern Vietnam and southern China.

On Aug. 2, 2019, a Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for coastal areas in northeastern Vietnam. The Vietnam National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHF) expects Wipha to track along the southern China coast and move into Vietnam tracking to the southwest. NCHF expects Wipha’s center to pass just south of Hanoi.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Aug. 2, Wipha had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/64 kph). It was centered near 21.6 degrees north latitude and 108.5 degrees east longitude, about 150 nautical miles east-northeast of Hanoi, Vietnam. Wipha was moving to the west.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image of Wipha on August 2. The MODIS image showed that clouds associated with Wipha filled up the Gulf of Tonkin. Satellite data showed that bands of thunderstorms were wrapping into a defined low-level circulation center.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said that Wipha is expected to make landfall by 11 p.m. EDT on Aug. 2 (0300 UTC on Aug. 3) in northern Vietnam. Then it will weaken as it moves to the west-southwest and over north Vietnam, where it will dissipate.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Aug. 01, 2019 – NASA’s Aqua Satellite Sees Tropical Storm Wipha Hugging China Coast

NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the South China Sea and saw Tropical Storm Wipha hugging the southern coast of China.

On August 1, 2019 at 1:35 a.m. EDT (0535 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Wipha that showed the center of circulation just off the coast of southern China. The center was just east of the southern tip of the Leizhou Peninsula of southern Guangdong province, and northeast of Hainan Island, China. MODIS imagery shows that despite the center in that area, the bands of thunderstorms that circle the center extend over Hainan Island and into the southern Guangdong Province as well as over the South China Sea.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Wipha was located near latitude 21.3 degrees north and longitude 110.2 degrees west. Wipha was about 241 nautical miles east of Hanoi, Vietnam. Wipha was moving to the northwest and had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/64 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Wipha to skirt the southern coast of China and move through the Gulf of Tonkin, with landfall along the northeast coast of Vietnam early on August 3. It is expected to dissipate soon after landfall.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

July 31, 2019 – NASA Finds Tropical Storm Wipha Whipped Up

Tropical Storm Wipha formed quickly in the South China Sea. It was affecting Hainan Island, China when NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead on July 31.

NASA’s Aqua satellite used infrared light to analyze the strength of storms and found the bulk of them in the southern quadrant. Infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach high into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.

ON July 31 at 2:30 a.m. EDT (0630 UTC), the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite gathered infrared data on Tropical Storm Wipha. Strong thunderstorms circled the center where cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 Celsius). Those storms were over the South China Sea, just southeast of Hainan Island, China. Another area of storms that strong were in a fragmented band to the northeast of the center.

Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall. Those strongest storms were south and southeast of the center of the elongated circulation.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 31, Tropical Storm Wipha had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/64 kph). It was located near 19.4 degrees north latitude and 112.2 degrees west longitude, about 207 miles south-southwest of Hong Kong, China. Wipha was moving to the northwest.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects that Wipha will move northwest towards southern China. After passing the Leizhou Peninsula, the system will turn west and after crossing the Gulf of Tonkin will make landfall near Hanoi, Vietnam.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center