NASA Satellite Sees Pewa Become a Typhoon

NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the tropical cyclone known as Pewa after it strengthened into a typhoon in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The Aqua satellite image revealed that Pewa had developed a small eye.

On Sunday, Aug. 18, Pewa was a tropical storm when it crossed the International Date Line and moved from the Central Pacific to the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. Pewa now falls under the forecast authority of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

On Aug. 18, infrared satellite data showed that thunderstorm development and convection had slightly weakened, but the system remained well-organized. Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC, expected the slight weakening to quickly reverse itself as conditions around the storm improved. The JTWC forecast that Pewa would become a typhoon on Aug. 19, and it did.

NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Typhoon Pewa on Aug. 19 at 01:05 UTC shortly after it strengthened into a typhoon in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument image showed that Pewa developed a small eye surrounded by strong thunderstorms.

On Monday, Aug. 19 at 0900 GMT/5 a.m. EDT, Typhoon Pewa had maximum sustained winds near 65 knots/75 mph/120 kph. It was centered near 13.9 north and 177.9 east, about 726 nautical miles east-southeast of Wake Island. Pewa was moving to the northwest at 8 knots/9.2 mph/15 kph.

Pewa is expected to continue to intensify as it moves northwest. The JTWC expects Pewa to pass far to the northeast of Wake Island on Aug. 21 and 22.