image: On July 9 at 05:10 UTC the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Tropical Storm Linfa making landfall in southeastern China. view more
Credit: Credits: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
Tropical Storm Linfa was making landfall in southeastern China early on July 9 when NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the storm. Linfa is now paralleling the coast in a southwesterly direction.
On July 9 at 05:10 UTC (1:10 a.m. EDT) the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Linfa making landfall in southeastern China. Linfa's clouds blanket the Guangdong Province of southeastern China. The image was created by the NASA MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
AT 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) on July 9, Tropical Storm Linfa was making landfall west of the Guangdong and Fujian border along the coast of Lufeng City in Guangdong. Linfa was moving in a westerly direction toward Hong Kong and Macau.
A Gale/storm signal #8 is in effect today, July 9, in Hong Kong as the tropical storm continues to move in that direction. The China Meteorological Administration suggested that residents in Guangdong "take preparedness to prevent from landslide, urban water logging and other possible disasters."
At the time, maximum sustained winds were near 55 knots (63.2 mph/102 kph). Linfa was centered near 22.8 North latitude and 114.0 East longitude, about 45 nautical miles (51.7 miles/83.3 km) north-northeast of Hong Kong. Linfa was moving to the west at 10 knots (11.5 mph/18.5 kph).
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted that surface observations from Hong Kong around 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), indicate northwesterly winds at 20 to 25 knots sustained with minimum pressure of 995 millibars. Animated infrared satellite imagery shows that the thunderstorms were weakening as a result of the storm's movement over land. The low-level circulation center also appears to be getting larger as storms do when they weaken. There is also curved bands of thunderstorms around the northern quadrant of the storm.
For updated warnings and watches from the China Meteorological Administration, visit: http://www.cma.gov.cn/en/WeatherWarnings/.
The JTWC forecast calls for the system to parallel the southern coastline of China to Hainan Island, where it will dissipate.
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