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August 9, 2025 - Tropical Storm Podul over the Northern Mariana Islands
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In the early hours of August 8, 2025, a tropical depression located near Guam, the southernmost and largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, strengthened into a tropical storm and was given the name Podul. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) Tropical Storm Podul carried maximum sustained winds of about 52 miles per hour (84 km/h) and was located about 493 miles (793 km) north of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. It was traveling to the west-northwest.
The JTWC advisory discussed that on August 8, environmental conditions were favorable for intensification and that the storm is most likely to reach typhoon strength by August 10. Tropical Storm Podul will encounter wind shear over the next few days as it tracks generally westward, which complicates forecast modeling, especially for how rapidly and how much intensification will occur over the next several days. Current forecasts predict that Podul will make landfall over Taiwan on August 12 at typhoon strength, with maximum sustained winds most likely at or near 85 miles per hour (137 km/h).
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of a nascent Tropical Storm Podul on August 12. At that time, the large and cloud-filled center of the storm appeared to be over the islands of Alamagan and Guguan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Convective bands of the poorly organized system stretched over the entire chain of islands as well as the Philippine Sea (west) and Pacific Ocean (east), bringing rain and heavy lightning.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/7/2025
Resolutions:
1km (250 KB), 500m (789.6 KB), 250m (2.2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
In the early hours of August 8, 2025, a tropical depression located near Guam, the southernmost and largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, strengthened into a tropical storm and was given the name Podul. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) Tropical Storm Podul carried maximum sustained winds of about 52 miles per hour (84 km/h) and was located about 493 miles (793 km) north of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. It was traveling to the west-northwest.
The JTWC advisory discussed that on August 8, environmental conditions were favorable for intensification and that the storm is most likely to reach typhoon strength by August 10. Tropical Storm Podul will encounter wind shear over the next few days as it tracks generally westward, which complicates forecast modeling, especially for how rapidly and how much intensification will occur over the next several days. Current forecasts predict that Podul will make landfall over Taiwan on August 12 at typhoon strength, with maximum sustained winds most likely at or near 85 miles per hour (137 km/h).
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of a nascent Tropical Storm Podul on August 12. At that time, the large and cloud-filled center of the storm appeared to be over the islands of Alamagan and Guguan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Convective bands of the poorly organized system stretched over the entire chain of islands as well as the Philippine Sea (west) and Pacific Ocean (east), bringing rain and heavy lightning.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/7/2025
Resolutions:
1km (250 KB), 500m (789.6 KB), 250m (2.2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
