NASA spots Tropical Storm Damrey headed west in South China Sea

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite flew over the South China Sea and captured a visible image of newly formed Tropical Storm Damrey as it moved on a westerly track toward Vietnam.

Damrey formed as a depression on Nov. 1 around 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC). It was designated Tropical Depression 28W. Early on Nov. 2 the depression strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Damrey.

On Nov. 2 at 1:24 a.m. EDT (05:24 UTC) the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible image of the storm, west of the Philippines, in the South China Sea. The image showed consolidating bands of thunderstorms wrapping into a low level circulation center

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) Tropical Storm Damrey was centered near 12.6 degrees north latitude and 115.7 degrees east longitude, about 305 nautical miles southwest of Manila, Philippines. Damrey was moving to the west at 9 knots (10.3 mph/16.6 kph) and had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Damrey to peak at 80 knots on Nov. 3, then begin weakening. Damrey is expected to make landfall in southeastern Vietnam on Nov. 4 as a tropical storm.