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Credit: NASA
The fifth tropical depression, Gorio in the northwestern Pacific Ocean formed last Friday, July 10, brought flooding to the northern Philippines and dissipated over the weekend. Meanwhile, the sixth tropical depression named "Huaning" formed and brought moderate rains over southern Taiwan. It's now moving toward China for a second landfall. Huaning formed close behind tropical depression Gorio which has since faded. Early on July 13, Huaning brought the Batanes group of islands in the northern Philippines some heavy rains, gusty winds and rough surf. It then crossed the southern tip of Taiwan, bringing gusty winds and moderate rains there.
On July 13 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 Zulu Time), Huaning had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots (28 mph), and was moving west-northwest near 16 knots (18 mph). It was located near 23.6 north latitude and 119.8 east longitude, or about 130 nautical miles southwest of Taipei, Taiwan. That puts the center of Huaning in the South China Sea, between Taiwan and mainland China.
NASA and the Japanese Space Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over the center of Tropical Depression Huaning early this morning, July 13, at 6:15 a.m. EDT, and captured an image of its rainfall. Although its center is now off-shore, southwest of Taiwan, the bulk of its rains were still falling over the southern portion of the Island. TRMM's image showed the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within Huaning as very unorganized. It lacked the "circular look" of a tropical storm. The image is false-colored with yellow, green and red areas, which indicate rainfall between 20 and 40 millimeters (.78 to 1.57 inches) per hour. Red areas are considered moderate rainfall, and the current image didn't show any at the time TRMM flew overhead.
Huaning is forecast to make landfall by 11 p.m. EDT tonight, July 13 in southeastern China. It will continue over land and then dissipate, but its remnant energy is expected to curve northeast and likely be absorbed by a stationery frontal boundary in the East China Sea.
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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