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Tropical Depression Peipah Poised for Landfall, then Dissipating Quickly

Tropical Depression Peipah is currently moving though the South China Sea, and is expected to make landfall in southeast Vietnam late Nov. 9 and dissipate quickly. There are several factors that will contribute to Peipah's quick demise including cooler waters, and dry air flowing across the western South China Sea from southeast Asia.

On Nov. 8 at 1200 UTC (7:00 a.m. EDT) Peipah was near 15.8 degrees north latitude and 112.8 east longitude. It was moving southwest at 8 knots (9 mph), and had maximum sustained winds near 30 knots with gusts to 40 knots.

This time series of images of Tropical Depression Peipah before it hit the Philippines on Nov. 4, as it moved over them on Nov. 6 and into the South China Sea on Nov. 7.

Click images for enlargements.




These infrared images were created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. They show the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the depression. The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth, revealing warmer temperatures (red). This infrared image shows large areas of strong convection surrounding the core of the storm (in purple).

The first image was taken on Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m. local time as the center of Peipah was moving westward in the Philippine Sea and approaching the Philippines from the east. The second image is from Nov. 6, also at 1:30 p.m. local time. The final image is from Nov. 7, again at 1:30 p.m. local time after it crossed Luzon, the Philippines and was meandering slowly southwestward in the South China Sea.

Peipah is now drawing a bead on Vietnam. Forecasters are calling for landfall at the city of Nha Trang during the night time hours of Nov. 9 and early morning hours of Nov. 10.

Rob Gutro
Goddard Space Flight Center
Images credit: NASA/JPL

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Typhoon Peipah Now Headed for Vietnam


Click image for enlargement.
Typhoon Peipah crossed through the Philippines on Nov 3 and is now targeting Vietnam.

On Nov. 5 at 1800 UTC (1 p.m. EST) Typhoon Peipah was packing winds of 65 knots (74 mph) with higher gusts and was headed to Vietnam. It was a Category One Typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson scale and was located at 18.0 North Latitude and 118.8 East Longitude, moving westward near 2 knots (2 mph).

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, "Typhoon Peipah has continued to intensify under the combined influences of low vertical wind shear, favorable upper level outflow and high ocean heat content. A banding eye has appeared in recent microwave satellite imagery. Interaction with the island of Luzon is disrupting the western portion of the storm circulation, hampering development of associated convection in that region of the storm."

It is expected to make landfall on November 9, north of the city of Nha Trang, Vietnam, then continue to move inland into Cambodia.

This infrared image from Nov. 3 at 4:47 UTC (or Nov. 2 at 12:47 a.m. EST) was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. At this time, Peipah is headed for Luzon, Philippines and had winds at 55 knots (63 mph).

Tropical Depression Peipah's clouds and rains are the blue and purple areas. This AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth, revealing warmer temperatures (red).

Rob Gutro (From NHC reports)
Goddard Space Flight Center
Image credit: NASA/JPL