GPM sees birth of Tropical Depression 3W in northwestern Pacific

The third tropical depression of the northwestern Pacific Ocean typhoon season has formed in eastern Micronesia as NASA-JAXA’s GPM satellite gathered rainfall data on the developing storm.

A tropical storm watch was already in effect on March 11 for Ujae and Ailinglaplap atolls in the western Marshall Islands.

The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core satellite gathered rainfall data on TD03W when it passed overhead on March 11 at 16:21 UTC (12:21 p.m. EDT). GPM saw that the heaviest rainfall was occurring southwest of the center of circulation where rainfall rates were near 1.6 inches (40 mm) per hour.

On March 11 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EST), Tropical Depression 03W (TD03W) formed just 92 nautical miles south of Kwajalein, part of the Marshall Islands. The center of TD03W was located near 7.2 north latitude and 168.2 east longitude. TD03W’s maximum sustained winds were near 30 knots (34.5 mph/55.5 kph). It was moving to the west at 18 knots (20 mph/33 kph) and is expected to become a tropical storm.

TD03W is forecast to move to the west-northwest toward Guam.