image: NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite found a clear eye in Typhoon Cimaron as it continued to strengthen on Aug. 22, 2018.
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite flew over Typhoon Cimaron on Aug. 22 at 0348 UTC (Aug. 21 at 11:48 p.m. EDT). The image captured showed a 20 nautical-mile wide visible eye surrounded by a large band of thunderstorms wrapping into the center and another band of thunderstorms east of the center.
At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC reported the center of Typhoon Cimaron was located near latitude 25.5 degrees north and longitude 138.8 degrees east. That's about 142 miles west-northwest of Iwo To island, Japan. Typhoon Cimaron was moving toward the northwest. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 126.6 mph (110 knots/203.7 kph). Typhoon force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center. Tropical Storm force winds extend outward between 35 and 65 nautical miles from the center.
JTWC forecasts Cimaron will move northwest toward Japan. The typhoon is expected to weaken slowly before making landfall in Japan as a typhoon, then turn sharply east and become extra-tropical east of Hokkaido.
Credit: Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center