July 25, 2015 - Tropical Storm Linfa (10W) over the Philippines

Tropical Storm Linfa (10W) over the Philippines

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of strengthening Tropical Storm Linfa as it spun over the Philippines on July 4, 2015. At the time the image was captured, the storm had a cloud-filled center of circulation with high cloud tops. The maximum sustained winds reached 57 mph (93 km/h) on that same day.

The first advisories on Tropical Depression Linfa were posted on July 2, and the storm slowly strengthened through July 8 when it peaked as a weak Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h). At that time it was taking aim at southeastern China.

At 1500 UTC (11:00 a.m. EDT) on July 9 Linfa made landfall west of the Guangdong and Fujian border along the coast of Lufeng City. At landfall, maximum sustained winds had dropped to about 63 mph (102 km/h). After landfall Tropical Storm Linfa moved offshore and travelled parallel to the coast, but could not sustain its strength due. The last advisory on the system was issued on July 10. The storm brought substantial rain to the Philippines and China, but reported damage was minimal.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 7/4/2015
Resolutions: 1km (471.9 KB), 500m (1.5 MB), 250m (3.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC