image: NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over Tropical Storm Tara on Oct. 15, 2018 and the VIIRS instrument provided a visible image of the storm along the coast of coasts of Mexico's Michoacan and Jalisco states. view more
Credit: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite found newly developed Tropical Storm Tara affecting the western coast of Mexico.
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes on Oct. 15.
Tara formed on Oct. 14 around 11 a.m. EDT. It was the twenty second tropical depression of the Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season. Suomi NPP passed over Tara on Oct. 14 and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument provided a visible image of the storm. The VIIRS image showed the eastern quadrant of the storm over the coasts of Mexico's Michoacan and Jalisco states.
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the National Hurricane Center or NHC noted that the center of Tropical Storm Tara was located near latitude 17.6 degrees north and longitude 104.4 degrees west. That's just 95 miles (155 km) south of Manzanillo, Mexico. Tara is moving toward the west-northwest near 1 mph (2 kph) and this slow motion is expected to continue for the next day or so. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 45 mph (75 kph) with higher gusts. Slow strengthening is forecast during the next few days.
NHC said "On the forecast track, the center of Tara is expected to remain near or just offshore of the southwestern coast of Mexico during the next couple of days."
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Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center