image: NASA's Aqua satellite flew a developing low pressure area southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii in the Central Pacific on Aug. 20 that intensified into Tropical Storm Kilo the next day. view more
Credit: Credits: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
A new tropical storm formed in the Central Pacific Ocean today, August 21, named Kilo. NASA's Aqua satellite passed the storm when it was a developing low pressure area the day before.
NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the tropical low pressure area on August 20 was it was organizing into Tropical Depression 3C. NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) noted that the low became a depression at 5 p.m. EDT on August 20. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image of the developing storm that showed a good circulation (rounded) and thunderstorms around the low-level center of circulation.
By 11 a.m. EDT on August 21, Tropical Depression 3C strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Kilo. At that time, Kilo's center was located near latitude 12.7 north...longitude 151.7 west. That puts the center of Kilo about 535 miles (860 km) south-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii and 720 miles (1,160 km) southeast of Honolulu. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1004 millibars.
Kilo was moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26 kph) and had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (65 kph). The CPHC expects Kilo to gradually strengthen over the next couple of days.
For updates on the storm visit NOAA's CPHC website: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc
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