image: NASA's Aqua satellite caught this visible light image of Tropical Storm Wukong in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean on July 22 at 10:55 p.m. EDT (July 23 at 0255 UTC). view more
Credit: Credits: NASA/NRL
Tropical Depression 14W formed on July 22 and the next day, NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of the storm that had strengthened into a tropical storm and taken on a comma shape.
Tropical Depression 14W was renamed Wukong when it became a tropical storm at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC) on July 22.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite caught a visible light image of Tropical Storm Wukong on July 22 at 10:55 p.m. EDT (July 23 at 0255 UTC). The MODIS image showed powerful thunderstorms around the low-level center of circulation and a band of thunderstorms extending from the eastern quadrant, giving the storm a comma-shaped appearance.
At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted that Tropical Storm Wukong had maximum sustained winds near 45 knots (51.7 mph/83.3 kph). It was located near 26.1 degrees north latitude and 159.4 degrees east longitude, about 315 nautical miles east-northeast of Minami Tori Shima, Japan. Wukong continued moving north at 10 knots (11.5 mph/18.5 kph).
The JTWC forecast calls for Wukong to move generally north. The JTWC expects Wukong to strengthen to 60 knots (69 mph/111.1 kph) before turning extra-tropical to the east of Japan.
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By Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center