South Atlantic Tropical Storm 90Q Far from Argentina’s Coast

The second–ever known tropical cyclone in the South Atlantic Ocean can’t escape satellite eyes, and today, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-12 captured a visible image of Tropical Storm 90Q now located off the coast of Argentina.

GOES-12 satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm 90Q at 1745 UTC (12:45 p.m. ET) today, March 12, when it was more than 1,350 miles east of Buenos Aires, Argentina, approximately near 36.5 degrees South latitude and 34.8 degrees West longitude. At 10 a.m. ET today, Tropical Storm 90Q still had maximum sustained winds near 46 mph (40 knots).

GOES-12 is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and images are created by NASA’s GOES Project, located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Tropical Storm 90Q is now moving quickly in a southeasterly direction and is starting to interact with a mid-latitude frontal system. By the end of the weekend, the Southern Atlantic Ocean’s second tropical storm in recorded history is expected to be merged with a cold front and just remain in the history books.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on Aqua captured an infrared image of Ului, formerly Tropical Depression 20P, on March 12 at 14:17 a.m. ET (9:17 a.m. ET). The infrared image showed a well –developed storm with a large cluster of high, cold (colder than minus 63 Fahrenheit), strong thunderstorms around the center of Tropical Storm Ului.

Tropical cyclone 20P formed during the very early morning hours today, March 12, and by late morning (Eastern Time) had strengthened into a tropical storm in the South Pacific Ocean. In fact, regional gale warnings are now in effect for Sanma and Torres.

The Torres Islands are in the Torba Province of Vanuatu, the northernmost island group in the country. Sanma is a province located in the northern section of the nation of Vanuatu, and is located on the nation’s largest island, Espiritu Santo. Sanma is about 1,553 miles (2,500 km) northeast of Sydney, Australia.

On Friday, March 12 at 1 a.m. ET (0600 UTC), Ului’s center was about 50 nautical miles west of Vanuatu, near 14.9 degrees South latitude and 165.7 East longitude. It was moving west near 7 mph (6 knots) and had maximum sustained winds near 52 mph (45 knots). As Tropical Storm Ului continues to track west, once it passes 160 degrees East it will be covered by the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia.