Tropical Cyclone May Impact the Philippines

When NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over the Philippine Sea during the early morning hours today, November 2 infrared imagery saw another new tropical cyclone coming together.

The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the organization that forecasts tropical cyclones in that area of the world is getting a workout. Tropical Storm Mirinae just made landfall this morning in Vietnam, and had crossed northern Luzon, the Philippines this past weekend. Now, there’s another threat in the region.

At 0600 UTC (4 p.m. local Asia/Manila time) on Monday, November 2, “System 97W” appeared to be taking on tropical cyclone characteristics. In fact, the Philippine Government hasn’t waited for it to be named and gave it the local name “Tino.” Tino, or 97W was located about 320 miles northeast of Manila, Philippines, near 18.0 North and 120.8 East. It was moving in a westerly direction toward the Philippines and the outer fringes of 97W’s clouds are already moving into the northern areas of Luzon.

NASA Aqua satellite’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument takes the temperature of the high thunderstorms within a tropical cyclone. Knowing the height of the cloud tops is important to forecasters because the higher the cloud tops, the stronger the thunderstorms. The infrared imagery also showed that the strongest thunderstorms were in the storm’s southern and northeastern areas. Those cloud tops had temperatures colder than -63F. Typically, the northeastern quadrant of tropical cyclones pack the strongest winds, too.

The Philippines have already posted warnings for the system and are not taking any chances. Public storm warning signal 1 is raised in Batanes group of islands, Cagayan, Babuyan, Calayan islands, Apayao, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Isabela, Quirino and Northern Aurora.

Mirinae Floods Philippines, Makes Landfall in Vietnam With Strong Thunderstorms

Mirinae (Santi) caused 12 hours of flooding rains in the Philippines when it crossed the northern Luzon region over the weekend. On October 31 at 5 a.m. local (Asia/Manila) time (October 30 at 2100 UTC) Typhoon Mirinae weakened dramatically after it moved inland over central Luzon, the Philippines.

By October 31 at 5 p.m. Local time, Mirinae had already reemerged into the South China Sea as a tropical storm and was headed for Vietnam, but it left behind floods, destruction and death. Mirinae made landfall in Vietnam early this morning, Eastern Time.

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured an image of Mirinae as it tracked through the South China Sea yesterday, November 1 and had maximum sustained winds near 57 mph. The storm still maintained good formation, and Aqua’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument still showed some high thunderstorms implying moderate to heavy rainfall, within. The infrared imagery also showed an eye in the storm, where the clouds were lower and warmer. The surrounding clouds had temperatures colder than -63F than those in the “eye.”

By November 2 at 10 a.m. EDT or 7 p.m. local (Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh) time in Vietnam, Tropical Storm Mirinae had already crossed the South China Seas and made landfall in Vietnam. It made landfall around 1 a.m. EDT this morning, November 2. By 10 a.m. EDT today, it was located 155 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, near 12.7 North and 108.5 East. Mirinae had maximum sustained winds near 52 mph, and was moving west near 14 mph. Mirinae is now dissipating over Vietnam and western Cambodia. The storm’s remnants could move into the Gulf of Thailand, but Mirinae isn’t expected to regenerate.

When Mirinae, or Santi, as it was called in the Philippines, tracked over northern Luzon, it dropped copious amounts of rainfall causing serious flooding, power outages and landslides taking at least 10 lives. More than 10,000 people in 54 villages were reported affected.

According to GMA News.TV several areas in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon are still flooded today. There was a flash flood in Laguna. Floods and damages were reported in Cavite and a storm surge from Mirinae destroyed homes in Barangay.

Navotas City’s Daanghari village, Pasig City’s Santolan and Kalawaan villages, and Taguig City’s Bagumbayan, Lower Bicutan and Ibayo-Tipas villages all reported flooding. In Laguna, the Santa Cruz River flowed over its banks, and flooded 85 percent of Santa Cruz town. Floodwaters were also reported in Rizal and San Lorenzo villages in Santa Elena town.

When Mirinae left Luzon and entered the South China Sea late on October 31, its maximum sustained winds were down to 63 mph (55 knots) and it was a tropical storm. Early this morning it made its final landfall in Vietnam.

Today brings a day of clean up in Luzon, but an awareness of yet another tropical threat. 320 miles northeast of Manila in the Philippine Sea, another tropical depression has formed and it may track over the northern Philippines in the next several days.