NASA finds Tropical Cyclone Luban crawling

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Luban as it continued to spin over the Arabian Sea and slowly head toward Oman.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite analyzed Tropical Cyclone Luban in visible light early on Oct. 10 when it was located in the Arabian Sea, Northern Indian Ocean. Although Luban remains symmetrical, there's a lack of strong thunderstorm development within the system. The VIIRS image showed the hint of an eye that was cloud-filled while microwave imagery more clearly showed a large and ragged eye.

On Oct. 10 at 11 p.m. EDT (Oct. 11 at 0300 UTC) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted Tropical Cyclone Luban had maximum sustained winds near 65 knots (75 mph/120 kph). It was centered near 14.5 degrees north latitude and 58.7 degrees east longitude, approximately 266 nautical miles southeast of Salah, Oman, India. Luban is moving very slowly to the west.

The JTWC forecast takes Luban westward where it will encounter increasing vertical wind shear and slightly cooler sea surface temperatures which will allow for a gradual decrease in intensity. Luban is forecast to make landfall shortly before Oct. 14 in Oman as a tropical storm.