Typhoon Wutip in the West Pacific Ocean

By Scott Bachmeier • 21 February 2019

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1502 UTC [click to enlarge]

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 at 1502 UTC (above) and from Suomi NPP at 1552 UTC (below) showed Category 2 Typhoon Wutip in the West Pacific Ocean (southeast of Guam) on 21 February 2019. With Moon in the Waning Gibbous phase (at 95% of Full), ample illumination was provided to highlight the “visible image at night” capability of the Day/Night Band.

Notable features included deep convection near the storm’s center of circulation (with the presence of subtle cloud-top gravity waves), and transverse banding along the eastern periphery of the cold central dense overcast. Bright pixels seen in the Suomi NPP Day/Night Band image were the result of clouds being illuminated by lightning activity. VIIRS images courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1552 UTC [click to enlarge]

===== 22 February Update =====

Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

Typhoon Wutip intensified to a Category 3 storm on 22 February (ADT | SATCON) — rapid scan JMA Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images at 2.5 minute intervals (above) revealed cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures of -90ºC and colder (yellow pixels surrounded by darker purple) shortly after 00 UTC. Multiple convective bursts developed around the center of circulation, and evidence of eye formation was seen for a short time beginning around 1137 UTC.

Himawari-8 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images of Wutip (below) showed that a distinct cloud-free eye did not form during that time period.

Himawari-8 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

A DMSP-17 SSMIS Microwave (85 GHz) image from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below) showed a nearly complete ring of strong convection around the eye region at 0916 UTC. A 24-hour animation of MIMIC-TC morphed microwave imagery is available here.

DMSP-17 SSMIS Microwave (85 GHz) image [click to enlarge]

Prior to becoming a typhoon, Wutip had been moving over water with warm Sea Surface Temperatures and high Ocean Heat Content values (below).

Sea Surface Temperature and Ocean Heat Content [click to enlarge]

===== 23 February Update =====

Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

2.5-minute rapid scan Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above) revealed the formation of a large and well-define eye with an annular eyewall structure as Wutip rapidly intensified (ADT | SATCON) to Category 4 Super Typhoon status on 23 February. Mesovortices could be seen rotating within the eye. Wutip became the most intense February typhoon on record in the Northwest Pacific basin.

In a toggle between NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1602 UTC (below), these mesovortices were also apparent — with the help of reflected moonlight — in the Day/Night Band.

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1604 UTC [click to enlarge]

As noted in a 21 UTC discussion from the JTWC, Wutip had a well-defined poleward outflow channel within the upper troposphere (below), which was a favorable factor for its intensification.

Himawari-8 Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images with plots of middle/upper-tropospheric derived motion winds [click to enlarge]

Categories: DMSP, Himawari-8, Lightning, Microwave, NOAA-20, Satellite winds, Suomi NPP, Tropical cyclones, VIIRS

CIMSS Satellite Blog

CIMSS Satellite Blog

Typhoon Wutip in the West Pacific Ocean