Tropical Storm Conson is departing the Philippines and is almost entirely in the South China Sea.

At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EDT/10 p.m. local Asia/Manila time) on July 14, Tropical Storm Conson was located about 225 nautical miles west-northwest of Manila, the Philippines. That places Conson’s center near 16.3 North and 116.9 East. Conson had maximum sustained winds near 50 knots (57 mph) and was moving west-northwest near 12 knots (14 mph). Conson is generating maximum wave heights of 15 feet in the South China Sea.

Tropical Storm Conson in the South China Sea on July 13 at 540 UTC (1:40 a.m. EDT/1:40 p.m. local Asia/Manila time). Conson is being battered by strong vertical wind shear at about 30 knots (34 mph) and the visible imagery shows that Conson no longer has the tropical cyclone signature rounded shape. For a time, Conson’s center was fully exposed to winds but it has re-developed. Most of the strongest convection (rapidly rising air that forms thunderstorms) remained south of the partially exposed low-level center.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts that Conson “should make landfall near Zhanjiang, China near 16/18z (July 16 at 1800 Zulu Time, or 2 p.m. EDT). Conson is expected to maintain intensity over the next day and then begin weakening before it makes landfall.

satellite was captured on July 13 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) and shows System 96E as a circular area of clouds and showers off the southwestern coast of Mexico. It is located about 300 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico. That puts its center near 14.3 North and 104.0 West.

System 96E’s showers and thunderstorms are concentrated around its small low pressure center. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Fla. noted today, July 13 that “Environmental conditions are expected to become more conducive for development of this disturbance over the next couple of days as it moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph.”

The NHC gives System 96E a 50% chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next 48 hours. If System 96E does become a depression and then strengthens into a tropical storm, it would be named “Estelle.”

A trough is an elongated area of low pressure and that’s what the remnants of the once major hurricane known as Darby are becoming today. On June 28 at 6:55 p.m. EDT NASA and the Japanese Space Agency’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured isolated areas of rainfall off the western Mexico coast from Darby’s remnants.

The center of Darby the remnant low pressure area is located near 15 North and 97.5 West. Those remnants are still showing some scattered moderate to strong convection (rapidly rising air that creates clouds and thunderstorms) southwest of its center. Isolated strong convection likely associated with a nearby tropical wave is also being seen over the Gulf of Tehauntepec and within 60 nautical miles of the Mexican coast between 98 West and 101 West.

Darby’s remnants still have southwest to westerly winds between 20 and 25 knots (23-28 mph). The National Hurricane Center noted that “Darby should weaken to an open trough later today then extend northwest to Caribbean Tropical Storm Alex. The trough will move northwest in tandem with Alex over the next few days.”

Tropical Storm Oli Kicking Up Waves in South Pacific

NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of Oli’s cloud temperatures on February 2 at 0041 UTC. High thunderstorm cloud tops surrounded Oli’s center as cold as minus 63F. There is a separate band of clouds associated with Oli to the north.

At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. ET) on February 2, Oli had maximum sustained winds near 52 mph (45 knots) with higher gusts. It was located about 480 nautical miles west of Bora Bora, near 14.8 South and 159.5 West. Oli has tracked eastward at 11 mph (10 knots).

Tropical Cyclone Bongani dissipated today, November 26, in the Mozambique Channel as a result of wind shear.

Wind shear is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Wind shear can be both vertical and horizontal. Horizontal wind shear is seen across front, while vertical wind shear can be near the Earth’s surface or higher levels in the atmosphere near upper level jet streams. Wind shear can tear storms apart.

If you think of a tropical cyclone as a haystack, and you direct giant fans blowing at different heights of the stack, going different ways, that’s similar to how wind shear affects a tropical cyclone. It pushes into its circulation, weakening it.