NASA - EOS Terra Mission patch.
August 25, 2020
Bavi – Northwestern Pacific Ocean
Aug. 25, 2020 – NASA Finds Typhoon Bavi’s Strongest Side
As Typhoon Bavi continued tracking north through the Yellow Sea, NASA’s Terra satellite used infrared light to identify strongest storms and coldest cloud top temperatures. The temperature data revealed that the strongest storms were not totally surrounding the eye.
Image above: On Aug. 25 at 10:25 a.m. EDT (1425 UTC), the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite gathered temperature information about Hurricane Bavi’s cloud tops. MODIS found the most powerful thunderstorms (red) were west and south of the eyewall, where temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 Celsius). Image Credits: NASA/NRL.
Infrared Data Reveals Powerful Storms
On Aug. 25 at 10:25 a.m. EDT (1425 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite gathered temperature information about Bavi’s cloud tops. Infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach high into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.
NASA's EOS Terra satellite. Image Credit: NASA
MODIS found the most powerful thunderstorms were west and south of the eyewall, where temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 Celsius). Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall. Satellite data also showed that the eye was about 15 nautical miles wide.
Bavi’s Status
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Aug. 25, Typhoon Bavi was centered near latitude 30.6 degrees north and longitude 125.2 degrees east, about 274 nautical miles west-southwest of Sasebo, Japan. Bavi was moving to the north-northwest and had maximum sustained winds 95 knots (109 mph/176 kph).
Bavi is forecast to continue tracking in a northerly direction, moving through the Yellow Sea. It is expected to make landfall in extreme northwestern North Korea around Aug. 27 at 0000 UTC (Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. EDT).
NASA Researches Tropical Cyclones
Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.
NASA’s Terra satellite: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/terra/index.html
Text, Credits: NASA/Lynn Jenner/Goddard Space Flight Center, by Rob Gutro.
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