The second tropical depression of the northwestern Pacific tropical cyclone season has formed and is currently located about 235 miles east-southeast of Yap, Micronesia. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured infrared, microwave and visible images of Tropical Depression 02W (TD 02W) early this morning.

When NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over TD 02W this morning, Monday, March 22 at 0405 UTC (12:05 a.m. EDT), infrared imagery showed a large area of strong convection in the storm’s center, where thunderstorm cloud tops were highest. Those cloud top temperatures were colder than -63 degrees Fahrenheit, indicating strong thunderstorms with moderate to heavy rainfall.

By 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC or 1 a.m. local time) today, TD 02W had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (30 knots) and was near 8.4 degrees North latitude and 141.4 degrees East longitude. TD 02W is about 100 miles southeast of Fais, 150 miles east-southeast of Ulithi and 235 miles east-southeast of Yap. It was moving northwest near 10 mph (9 knots), and generating 10-foot high waves.