Hurricane Season 2010: Typhoon Megi (Northwest Pacific Ocean)

NASA Images a Menacing Typhoon Megi

This thermal infrared image of Typhoon Megi was taken by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft at 0417 UTC (12:17 a.m. EDT) on Oct. 14, 2010 when the typhoon was still a tropical storm. At the time, Megi had maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (60 knots), and was located 200 miles north-northeast of Yap, Micronesia, moving to the northwest at 9 miles per hour (8 knots). As of 5 p.m. EDT, the storm had strengthened into a typhoon, with maximum sustained winds of 92 miles per hour (80 knots). Megi is forecast to continue to strengthen as it heads toward the Philippines, reaching 144 miles per hour (125 knots) by Sunday, Oct. 17.

Megi's strongest convection, strongest thunderstorms and heaviest rainfall are depicted in purple.

Text credit: Alan Buis

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.