NASA sees extra-large, now extra-tropical storm Prapiroon fading

Prapiroon is both extra-large and now extra-tropical in the western North Pacific Ocean. NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of the large storm after Prapiroon became extra-tropical.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Extra-tropical Storm Prapiroon on Oct. 19 at 01:15 UTC (Oct. 18, 9:15 p.m. EDT). The storm appeared on the MODIS image to be as large as the main island of Japan and the strongest thunderstorms and heaviest rainfall appeared north of the center of circulation over the open waters of the western North Pacific Ocean.

At 0300 UTC on Oct. 19 (11 p.m. EDT on Oct. 18), Prapiroon's maximum sustained winds were near 45 knots (51.7 mph/81.3 kph). It was centered about 270 nautical miles (310.7 miles/500 km) southeast of Tokyo, Japan, near 31.9 North latitude and 142.6 East longitude. It was moving away from Japan and headed east-northeast at 27 knots (31 mph/50 kph).

On Oct. 19, Prapiroon marked its twelfth day of life. It was born as Tropical Depression 22W on Oct. 7. On Monday, Oct. 8, the twenty-second tropical cyclone had organized and strengthened into Tropical storm Prapiroon and later became a typhoon. Now, as an extra-tropical cyclone, Prapiroon is expected to fade over the next couple of days over open waters.