NASA spots Typhoon Banyan's large eye

Typhoon Banyan's eye became visible again in satellite imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite. A visible image showed powerful storms tightly would around Typhoon Banyan's center as it moved through the Pacific Ocean.

On Aug. 15 at 01:48 UTC (Aug. 14 at 9:48 p.m. EDT the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible look at Banyan. The VIIRS image showed a tight concentration of strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation. The visible image also showed Banyan's eye had become visible again, although it appeared ragged. The previous day, the eye was covered by high clouds and was only seen in microwave imagery.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on August 15, Typhoon Banyan's maximum sustained winds were near 85 knots (97.8 mph/157.4 kph). The storm was located about 515 nautical miles east-northeast of the Minami Tori Shima Atoll, near 29.3 degrees north latitude and 162.6 degrees east longitude. It was moving to the north at 13 knots (15 mph/25 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) forecast calls for Banyan to track northeastward as it rounds the western edge of a sub-tropical ridge (elongated area) of high pressure. JTWC forecasters noted that vertical wind shear will increase as a shortwave trough (elongated area) of low pressure approaches Banyan, and it will weaken the storm. After 11 p.m. EDT on August 15, the storm will move into cooler sea surface temperatures that will also sap the storm's strength.

By August 17 the storm is expected to become a strong extra-tropical storm in the open waters of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.