Tropical Storm Chaba

Tropical Depression 16W in the Pacific Northwest grew into Tropical Storm Chaba over the past weekend, infrared imagery from NASA revealed powerful thunderstorms around Chaba's center.

Tropical Storm Chaba is now located about 525 nautical miles south-southeast of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.

On October 25 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) Chaba had maximum sustained winds near 60 knots (xx mph). It was still in open waters of the western North Pacific Ocean, near 18.3 North and 129.7 East. It was moving northwestward near 9 mph, and generating 19 foot-high seas.

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Chaba on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 17:11 UTC (1:11 p.m. EDT) and captured an infrared image of the storm's cold cloud tops with th e Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument. At that time, Chaba's coldest cloud tops were as cold as or colder than -63 Fahrenheit indicating strong convection around the south and western edges of the center. The colder the thunderstrorm cloud tops, the higher the storms, and the stronger the thunderstorms.

Tropical Depression 14W (Northwest Pacific Ocean)

At 5 a.m. EDT, October 5, Tropical Depression 14W had maximum sustained winds near 34 mph. It was located over Hainan Island near 19.5 North and 109.4 East. Its winds were creating 9-foot high seas. TD14W was moving north at 6 mph. It is expected to make a turn to the north-northeast, make a brief landfall in the mainland of southern China. Once there, it is forecast to move east, then east-southeast, making a half-circle and head toward the eastern end of Hainan Island and dissipate.

Tropical Moisture Bring Heavy Rain, Flooding To U.S. East Coast

The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center provides estimates of rainfall over the global Tropics. TMPA rainfall totals are shown here for the East Coast of the United States down to the northwest Caribbean for the period from September 24 to October 1, 2010.

The highest rainfall totals for the period are over Jamaica where upwards of 550 mm of rain fell (~22 inches) as a result of Nicole's interaction with the island's terrain. The highest totals along the East Coast occurred over coastal North Carolina where up to 500 mm of rain (~20 inches) fell. Almost all of eastern North Carolina received at least 200 to 250 mm of rain (~8 to 10 inches).

Numerous areas from northern Florida all the way up into central Pennsylvania received at least 100 mm (~4 inches) of rain with several areas in excess of 150 to 200 mm of rain (~6 to 8 inches). Locally, upwards of 9 inches of rain were reported around the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and just over 20 inches in parts of North Carolina.

Although the rain ended a dry spell for the region, 4 deaths are being blamed on the storm in North Carolina. In Jamaica, 12 people are reported to have died as a result of Tropical Storm Nicole.

NASA Infrared Satellite Imagery Sees System 97W Ripe for Tropical Development

When NASA's Aqua satellite flew over System 97W in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean on July 19 at 0417 UTC , it captured temperature data on some very high thunderstorms and strong convection happening inside. Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center who utilize that data noted that System 97W has a good chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next 12 to 24 hours.

NASA's infrared satellite imagery was captured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder . The convection it detected in the center of System 97W was strong as evidenced by high, cold thunderstorm cloud tops, colder than 63 Fahrenheit .

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that System 97W's maximum sustained winds are estimated between 20 and 25 knots . The center is estimated near 27.9 North and 125.0 East, which is about 175 nautical miles west northwest of Okinawa, Japan. System 97W is moving northwest near 10 mph .

System 97W is forecast to track northward into the Yellow Sea. The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea . The Yellow Sea is located between mainland China and the Korean peninsula.

As it continues northwest, System 97W could strengthen into a tropical depression before tracking over cool sea surface temperatures between 75-79 Fahrenheit 24 hours. A tropical cyclone needs sea surface temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain intensity.