image: On Aug. 14 at 3:00 UTC the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this visible image newborn Tropical Depression 17W in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. view more
Credit: Credits: NASA/NRL
Tropical Depression 17W came together in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead on August 14.
On Aug. 14 at 3:00 UTC (11:00 p.m. EDT, Aug. 13) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of newborn Tropical Depression 17W. The showed thunderstorms around the center of circulation and in bands both west and east of the center.
At 7 p.m. local time (Guam) 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT) the center of tropical depression 17W was located near latitude 15.2 north and longitude 163.0 east. That puts the center of 17W about 265 miles north of Enewetak and about 370 miles southwest of Wake Island.
It was drifting north at 6 mph. This general motion is expected through Saturday, August 15 before turning northwest Sunday, August 16. NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) in Tiyan, Guam noted that maximum sustained winds are 30 mph and Tropical depression 17W is forecast to gradually intensify over the next few days and might become a tropical storm on August 15.
The NWS in Guam forecast track takes 17W on northwesterly direction through open waters over the next several days. To see the forecast track, go to: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/images/guam/frTrack2.jpg.
For updated forecasts from the National Weather Service Office in Guam, visit: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pr/guam/
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