Gaze Into Super Typhoon Vongfong's Eye
UPDATE 10/9/14: More awesome images today! First, an amazing close-up infrared shot from the VIIRS instrument (via CIMSS).
Capital Weather Gang has some more great images. Here's an estimated rainfall animation from both Vongfong and last week's Super Typhoon Phanfone:
And I'll leave you with anawesome 3D radar shot from a satellite of Hurricane Simon.
ORIGINAL REPORT 10/8/2014: Just after sunrise in the west Pacific Ocean last night, we were able to look down into the eye of Super Typhoon Vongfong, via a visible satellite image. Here's what it looked like (CIMSS):
Dizzy yet? There's an even better picture by NOAA here:
(Those small swirls you see inside the eye are called "mesovortices.") Satellite estimates Tuesday night put the storm between 138 and 175 knots for sustained winds (159-203 mph) although it officially clocked in at 155 knots (180 mph) at its strongest, the worst since Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 (unlike Haiyan, thank goodness, it's not near landfall).
The forecast has it heading for Japan, which is still recovering from Typhoon Phanfone which hit earlier this week. One thing that Phanfone left was a lot of flooding rain. Vongfong will likely bring more. Here's an estimated precipitation image via (NASA TRMM):
Another amazing infrared satellite image:
This composite of several different satellite types from the Navy's satellite page is terrifying at worst, artistic at best:
