NASA MODIS Image of the Day: August 26, 2012 – Typhoons Tembin (15W) and Bolaven (16W) in the Philippine Sea
On August 23, 2012 two typhoons spun in the Philippine Sea, each carrying a wide path of heavy rainfall, strong winds and rough seas. In this image, Typhoon Tembin (Bagyong Igme) lies to the west, with rain bands beginning to cover the east coast of Taiwan. Typhoon Bolaven (Bagyong Julian) is less organized and spins to the east. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of the dual storms at 0435 UTC (12:35 a.m. EDT) on August 23. At that time, Tembin measured about 322 miles (518.6 km) in diameter, and Bolaven appeared to be nearly the same size. That’s about the distance from Boston, Mass. to Philadelphia, Penn. Just before this image was captured, at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT,) Typhoon Bolaven was located about 575 miles/926 km southeast of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan and travelling to the north-northwest with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph (185 km/h). At the same time, Typhoon Tembin was located about 172.6 miles/277.8km south-southeast of Taipei, Taiwan. It was moving westward towards Taiwan carrying maximum sustained winds near 121 mph/194.5 km/h. By August 25, Typhoon Tembin had crossed southern Taiwan, packing strong winds with gusts of 63 mph (101 km/h), and dumping records amounts of rain. According to news sources, the rain in southern Pingtung county was described as “the worst in more than a century”, with 724 mm of rain falling in the county in 48 hours, and the township of Hungchun receiving over 600 mm in one day. Five people had been reported injured, including two firefighters. On August 26 at 0300 UTC (August 25, 11:00 p.m. EDT) The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a warning on both typhoons. At that time, Bolaven carried maximum sustained winds of 132 mph (212 km/h) and was located 126 mi (203 km) southeast of Kadena Air Base. It was tracking northwestward, and expected to make landfall in North Korea on August 28. At that time, the storm is expected to have weakened, with winds about 98 mph (157 km/h). At the same time, the JTWC reported that Tembin was located approximately 350 nautical miles (288 mi (402 km) southwest of Taipei, Taiwan and had weakened, with maximum sustained winds of 98 mph (157 km/h). Satellite imagery showed convection was deepening around an increasingly organized eye. Tembin is predicted to strengthen over the next 24 hours, as well as turn to the east and re-cross Taiwan sometime between August 27 and 28.
