Tropical Cyclone Irving appears elongated in NASA imagery

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Irving and found wind shear was stretching the storm out.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard Aqua provided a visible-light image of the depression on Jan. 2, 2018. The image showed persistent development thunderstorms around the center of circulation that were being sheared slightly to the south.

At 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on Jan. 9, 2018, Tropical Cyclone Irving was located approximately 861 nautical miles east-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius, near 23.2 degrees south latitude and 71.9 degrees east longitude. Irving was moving to the west-southwest at 18 knots (20.7 mph/33.3 kph) and had maximum sustained winds near 70 knots (80 mph/129.6 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects big changes to Irving over the next two days. Sea surface temperatures in the region are currently around 26 Celsius and will continue to decline rapidly as Irving moves south. The cooler waters and increasing wind shear will weaken the storm. In addition an elongated area of low pressure, or trough, will approach from the west and begin interacting with Irving further weakening the storm. Irving is expected to accelerate to the southeast and rapidly transition into an extratropical system by Jan. 11.