NASA sees very strong wind shear battering Tropical Storm Gaemi

It is easy to see the effect of the strong northeasterly wind shear battering Tropical Storm Gaemi in satellite imagery from NASA. Visible imagery on Oct. 5 shows a large oval-shaped area of showers and thunderstorms associated with the storm, southwest of the exposed center of circulation.

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Gaemi as it was approaching Vietnam on Oct. 5, 2012 at 0550 UTC (1:50 a.m. EDT). A true-color image of the storm was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument and shows bulk of showers and thunderstorms were clearly to the southwest of the center. The circulation center appears as a ring of concentric bands of clouds northeast of the large rounded area of clouds and showers associated with the storm.

On Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2012 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), Tropical Storm Gaemi still had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/65 kph) as it did 24 hours before. It was located 425 nautical miles (489 miles/787 km)east of Hue, Vietnam near 14.7 North latitude and 117.7 East longitude. Gaemi has picked up speed and is moving to the west now at 11 knots (12.6 mph/20.3 kph).

Gaemi is forecast to make landfall south of Hue, Vietnam sometime on Oct. 6 after 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Gaemi to dissipate two days after landfall.