image: NASA's Terra satellite caught this visible image of Typhoon Matmo moving through the Taiwan Strait on July 23 at 02:45 UTC, headed for a landfall in southeastern China. view more
Credit: Image Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
NASA's Terra satellite passed over Typhoon Matmo when it was moving through the Taiwan Strait for its final landfall in mainland China.
On July 23 at 02:45 UTC (July 22 at 10:45 p.m. EDT), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a picture of Typhoon Matmo after its center crossed the northern part of the island nation of Taiwan and entered the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan Strait is the body of water between western Taiwan and southeastern China. The MODIS image showed a cloud-covered center of circulation, but a cloud extent that covered Taiwan
Matmo made land fall along China's southeastern coastal province of Fujian early on July 23. Matmo made landfall with maximum sustained winds near 74 knots (137 kph/85 mph) making it a category one typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.
By 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) Matmo's center had moved inland over southeastern China. It was centered near 26.4 north latitude and 118.9 east longitude, about 142 nautical miles west-northwest of Taipei, Taiwan. Matmo's maximum sustained winds dropped quickly to 50 knots (57.5 mph/92.6 kph) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) forecast calls for rapid weakening because of friction caused by moving over land, and an approaching mid-latitude trough (elongated area of low pressure). Matmo was moving to the northwest at 10 knots (11.5 mph/17.5 kph).
JTWC noted that complete dissipation of the system is expected over land, approximately 150 nautical miles west of Shanghai in the next day as it is absorbed in the mid-latitude boundary currently located north of the system.
Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center