NASA sees formation of northwestern Pacific's Tropical Depression 18W

NASA's Aqua satellite caught the birth of the eighteenth tropical depression of the northwestern Pacific Ocean tropical cyclone season. Tropical Depression 18W was born in the South China Sea and is expected to be short-lived after a quick landfall in central Vietnam.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of disorganized Tropical Depression 18W on Sept. 18 at 0616 UTC/2:16 a.m. EDT. Satellite imagery showed that the circulation is large, and that convection and thunderstorms appear disorganized on the northern and western edges of the storm.

On Sept. 18 at 0900 UTC/5 a.m. EDT, Tropical Depression 18W had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots. It was located just 125 nautical miles east-northeast of Da Nang, Vietnam, near 16.5 north and 109.9 east over the South China Sea. It was moving to the west-northwest at 7 knots.

TD18W is expected to make landfall in central Vietnam on Sept. 19, just south of Hue. It is then expected to continue moving west-southwest and is expected to dissipate within a day after making landfall.