Unusual Tropical Storm Pali still thriving far from Hawaii

Tropical Storm Pali, an out-of-season storm for the Central Pacific Ocean, continues to thrive about 8 degrees latitude north of the Equator. A recent infrared image from the GOES-West satellite showed that Pali a small cyclone.

NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided an infrared image of Pali on Jan. 11 at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) that showed the storm far to the southwest of Hawaii in the Central Pacific Ocean. Strongest thunderstorms appeared to be around the center of circulation and south and east of the center. The image was created at NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

On Jan. 11 at 10 a.m. EST (5 a.m. HST/1500 UTC) the center of Tropical Storm Pali was located near latitude 8.3 north and longitude 172.9 west. That's about 625 miles (1005 km) south-southwest of Johnston Island, and about 1,345 miles (2,160 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Pali is no threat to land.

Maximum sustained winds were near 60 mph (95 kph). NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center expects some slight intensification over the next couple of days. The estimated minimum central pressure is 993 millibars.

Pali was moving toward the east-northeast near 5 mph (7 kph) and that general motion is expected to continue today...followed by a turn toward the southeast and then to the south from tonight through Tuesday evening, Jan. 12. Pali is headed toward the Equator and is currently expected to maintain tropical storm strength as far out as Saturday, Jan. 16.