NASA sees compact Tropical Storm Damrey approaching southern Japan

Tropical Storm Damrey appears to be a compact tropical storm on NASA satellite imagery as it heads west. It is expected to pass north of Iwo To, Japan and later south of Kyushu, one of Japan's large islands.

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Damrey on July 30 at 03:21 UTC (July 29 at 11:21 p.m. EDT) and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of the storm. It showed that strong, high, cold cloud tops of thunderstorms were in a tight circle around the center of circulation. There were bands of thunderstorms mostly north and east of the center of circulation. Some of the thunderstorm cloud tops were so high that they were as cold as -63 Fahrenheit/-52 Celsius. The circle of thunderstorms appears compact in the infrared imagery.

Damrey formed as a depression on July 28. By July 30, Damrey reached tropical storm status. Damrey's maximum sustained winds were near 45 knots (51.7 mph/83.3 kmh) at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 30. Tropical-storm-force winds extend out 50 nautical miles (57.5 miles/92.6 km) from the center, making the storm just over 100 miles (115 miles/185 km) in diameter. Damrey was located about 175 nautical miles (201.4 miles/324 km) east-northwest of Iwo To, near 26.3 North and 143.6 East. It is moving to the west-northwest at 5 knots (5.7 mph/9.2 kmh).

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect Damrey to track to the west-northwest over the next three days. It is currently expected to strengthen and then weaken before it makes landfall north of Shanghai, China on August 3.