Tropical Depression Halola Makes Landfall in Kyushu and Erodes

Tropical Depression Halola made landfall in the southern Japan early on July 26 as NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead.

A visible-light image of Halola taken on July 26 at 4:53 UTC (12:53 a.m. EDT) from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite or VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite showed Halola made landfall in northern Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island in Japan, located in the southern part of the country. The VIIRS image revealed the bulk of clouds and showers were southwest of the center and the storm appeared to be unraveling.

VIIRS collects visible and infrared imagery and global observations of land, atmosphere, cryosphere and oceans. VIIRS flies aboard the Suomi NPP satellite, which is managed by both NASA and NOAA.

After landfall, Tropical Depression Halola weakened quickly. At 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTC) issued their final bulletin on the storm. At that time, the center of the depression was located near 33.8 North latitude and 130.7 East longitude, about 19 nautical miles northeast of Sasebo, Japan. It was moving to the northeast at 11 knots (12.6 mph/20.3 kph). Halola’s maximum sustained winds had dropped to 25 knots (28.7 mph/46.3 kph) and were weakening further after interaction with land.

Satellite imagery from the Japan Meteorological Agency and surface reports indicate the system greatly eroded.