image: NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Depression Guillermo on Aug. 7, 2015, at 8 a.m. EDT, showing the storm was elongated from southwest to northeast. view more
Credit: Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project
Satellite data revealed that Tropical Depression Guillermo doesn't have much punch left in it as a result of strong, persistent vertical wind shear that continues to pound away at the storm's structure.
On Friday, August 7, the former tropical storm weakened to a tropical depression and was located just north of the main Hawaiian Islands.
NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an infrared image of the depression's clouds pre-dawn on August 7. At 1200 UTC (8 a.m. EDT/2 a.m. HST), the GOES image showed Guillermo's elongated clouds stretching from southwest to northeast. The image was created by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) reported that there was one lone thunderstorm with a cloud top near 32 thousand feet, located about 90 miles northeast of the center. The hostile environmental vertical wind shear continues to inhibit any more thunderstorms from developing especially near the center.
Although there are no watches or warnings in effect, ocean swells post the greatest hazard. Swells associated with Guillermo will continue to produce large...life threatening surf along east facing shores of most Hawaiian Islands.
On August 7, 2015 at 5 a.m. EDT//0900 UTC) the center of tropical depression Guillermo was located near latitude 22.2 north and longitude 157.1 West. That's about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Honolulu and about 150 miles (240 km) east of Lihue, Hawaii. The depression is moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 kph). Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 kph). The estimated minimum central pressure is 1008 millibars.
NOAA forecaster Houston noted "Guillermo has a near zero chance of redevelopment as a flattening upper level trough (elongated area of low pressure) to the north will maintain strong vertical wind shear and dry air aloft in the vicinity of the depression and its remnants during the next few days."
Guillermo is expected to gradually weaken...and is forecast to become a remnant low later today and dissipate on Saturday, August 8.
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