image: Tropical Storm 13W formed today, July 30 in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean as NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead.
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite or VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible-light image of newborn Tropical Storm 13W on July 30 at 3:32 UTC (July 29 at 11:32 p.m. EDT). The VIIRS image showed a concentration of thunderstorms around the low-level center of circulation and a fragmented band of thunderstorms wrapping into the center from the western quadrant.
VIIRS collects visible and infrared imagery and global observations of land, atmosphere, cryosphere and oceans. VIIRS flies aboard the Suomi NPP satellite, which is managed by both NASA and NOAA.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the organization that forecasts tropical cyclones in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, noted that animated enhanced infrared satellite imagery also showed a consolidating system with bands of thunderstorms wrapping into a low level circulation center.
On July 30 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), Tropical Depression 13W (TD13W) had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/62 kph). It was centered near 13.7 North latitude and 158.7 East longitude, about 564 nautical miles (649 miles. 1, 045 km) northeast of Chuuk. TD13W was moving to the west at 8 knots (9.2 mph/14.8 kph).
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast calls for TD13W to intensify to typhoon strength by August 1 as it continues moving to the west-northwest toward the Marianas Islands.
Credit: Image: Credits: NRL/NASA/NOAA Text: NASA/Rob Gutro