NASA sees Halloween Typhoon Krosa lashing Luzon, Philippines

There's nothing more scary for Halloween than a typhoon, and the residents in Luzon, in the northern Philippines are being lashed by Typhoon Krosa today, Oct. 31.

On Oct. 30 at 0525 UTC/1:25 a.m. EDT NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured a good daytime view of Typhoon Krosa. A rainfall analysis derived from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data was combined into a visible and infrared image from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS). TRMM PR data found precipitation falling at a rate of about 81mm/~3.2 inches per hour in strong convective storms near Krosa's center.

On Oct.31 at 0255 UTC, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument known as MODIS that flies aboard NASA"s Terra satellite captured a picture of Tropical Storm Krosa. The MODIS image showed Krosa's western edge over Luzon in the northern Philippines

At 1500 UTC/11 a.m. EDT, Krosa's center was over land in extreme northern Luzon, and headed for the South China Sea. At that time, Krosa's maximum sustained winds were near 90 knots/103.6 mph/ 166.7 kph. The center of Krosa was located near 18.4 north and 121.2 east, about 227 nautical miles/261 miles/420 km north-northeast of Manila, Philippines. It was headed to the west-northwest at 12 knots/13.8 mph/22.22 kph.

Satellite imagery on Oct. 31 showed that Krosa had an eye 25 nautical miles/28.7 km/46.3 km in diameter at landfall in northern Luzon.

Krosa is expected to re-intensify in the South China Sea and affect Hainan Island, China before making a final landfall in northern Vietnam.