System 098S Strengthens into Tropical Storm Edzani
The MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this view of Tropical Storm Edzani on January 6 at 0450UTC safely at sea in the Southern Indian Ocean The area of low pressure that NASA satellites and forecasters were watching yesterday, has taken advantage of low wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures in the Southern Indian Ocean and strengthened into Tropical Storm Edzani today. Tropical cyclone Edzani, the seventh tropical cyclone (07S) in the southern hemisphere this season, was located about 650 miles east-southeast of Diego Garcia today, January 6 at 10 a.m. ET (1500 UTC). That’s near 13.1 degrees South latitude and 81.8 degrees East longitude. Edzani’s maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (35 knots). Edzani was moving west-southwest near 12 mph, and generating waves around 15 feet high. Multispectral satellite imagery and a microwave satellite image revealed that convection is strengthening and the storm is consolidating. NASA’s Terra satellite flew over Tropical Storm Edzani early this morning at 0450UTC (10:20 a.m. local time). The Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer, or MODIS instrument captured a visible image of the storm that showed the storm has developed a more circular shape. Edzani will continue to track west-southwestward and gradually intensify over the next couple of days, remaining safely in open ocean. |
