NASA sees second Tropical soaking in Southern Philippines

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Philippines and infrared imagery showed that Tropical Storm Tembin contained strong thunderstorms with heavy rainmaking potential as it moved across Mindanao in the southern part of the country. The southern Philippines recently experienced a soaking from what is now Tropical Depression Kai-Tak.

Locally in the Philippines, Tembin is known as Tropical Storm Vinta.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Tembin on Dec. 21 at 12:17 p.m. (17:17 UTC). Infrared data from AIRS provides cloud top temperatures and showed the coldest cloud tops and strongest storms covered the entire region of Mindanao. Those cloud tops were colder than minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius). NASA research has shown that storms with cloud tops that cold have the potential to generate heavy rainfall.

At 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on Dec. 22, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted Tembin had maximum sustained winds near 45 knots (52 mph/83 kph). It was located near 8.0 degrees north latitude and 121.5 degrees east longitude, about 401 nautical miles south of Manila, Philippines. It was exiting western Mindanao, the southern region of the country and moving toward the island of Palawan.

On Dec. 22, PAGASA, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, issued Public storm warning signal #1 for the Mindanao provinces of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay; the Visayas provinces of Southern Negros Oriental and Siquijor and the Luzon provinces of southern Palawan.

JTWC expects Tembin to continue tracking westward into the South China Sea and make a second landfall near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Dec. 25.