Tropical Storm “Nesat” (Gorio) heading toward Taiwan
Image credit: Tropical Storm "Nesat" as seen by NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite on July 26, 2017.
Tropical Storm "Nesat" formed just east of the Philippines on July 26, 2017, as the fifth cyclone to develop in the Northwest Pacific in less than 7 days. Known as Gorio in the Philippines, this storm is currently heading toward Taiwan where it could unleash flooding rainfall and strong winds by the end of the week. The system is already affecting the Philippines and will continue to do so, dropping heavy rainfall through the end of the week.
At 15:00 UTC on July 26, the center of Tropical Storm "Nesat" was located approximately 802 km (498 miles) NE of Manila, Philippines. The system is tracking NNW at about 14.8 km/h (9.20 mph) with maximum sustained winds of 83.3 km/h (51.7 mph) and gusts to 101.8 km/h (63 mph).
The animated enhanced infrared satellite imagery depicts pulsating central convection with fragmented banding. Environmental conditions are currently improving as vertical wind shear is subsiding with robust equatorward outflow under very warm (31 °C / 87.8 °F) sea surface temperatures.
Tropical Storm "Nesat" on July 26, 2017. Credit: NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP/VIIRS
Nesat is forecast to track northward along the western periphery of the steering ridge over the next 48 hours but will turn NNW and accelerate as it transitions to a subtropical ridge to the north, JTWC notes. Environmental conditions are expected to remain favorable allowing the system to steadily intensify over the next few days.
Tropical Storm "Nesat" forecast track by JTWC on July 26, 2017
It is still way to early to know exactly where and when the landfall will take place, but current JTWC forecast track calls for landfall before 12:00 UTC on July 30 somewhere along the coast of northern Taiwan.
By that time, Nesat will (hopefully) already pass its peak, but will bring dangerous rainfall and strong winds.
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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