Aug. 15, 2008
A Windy Look at Tropical Storm Vongfang
Hurricane Season 2008: Hurricane Vongfang (Western Pacific Ocean)
NASA's QuikSCAT satellite uses microwaves to peer into a storm, and determine the speed of the rotating winds. That's what QuikSCAT did as Tropical Storm Vongfang was churning up the waters in the far western Pacific Ocean during the second week in August.
This image from NASA's QuikSCAT satellite was taken at 20:29 UTC (4:294 p.m. EDT August 14. It depicts Vongfang's wind speed in color and wind direction with small barbs. White barbs point to areas of heavy rain. The highest wind speeds, are shown in purple, which indicate winds over 40 knots (46 mph).
On August 15, 2008 at 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. EDT), Tropical Storm Vongfang was located approximately 325 nautical miles south-southwest of Tokyo, Japan, near 31.4 degrees north latitude and 137.7 degrees east longitude. It has maximum sustained winds near 45 knots (52 mph). Vongfang has tracked northeastward at 16 mph (14 knots) over the past 6 hours. Maximum significant wave heights generated recently have been as high as 16 feet in open seas.
Vongfang is forecast to continue on a northeast track is expected to pass to the east of Japan over the weekend, with its center remaining at sea.
Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center