On October 22, 2010, Typhoon Megi inched closer to mainland China, having caused extensive damage in the Philippines and Taiwan. The storm killed at least 26 people in the Philippines and damaged many homes, the BBC reported. BBC and CNN reported mudslides and fatalities in Taiwan, where rescuers were searching for a tour bus that might have been buried, and some 400 motorists were stranded.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image of Megi on October 22. The storm extends from Taiwan Hong Kong.
The same day that MODIS acquired this image, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that Megi had maximum sustained winds of 90 knots (170 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 110 knots (205 kilometers per hour). The Category 2 storm was roughly 235 nautical miles (435 kilometers) east of Hong Kong and was expected to continue traveling northward, making landfall east of the city.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency stated that Megi could be the strongest typhoon to strike China in 2010, CNN reported.
References & Resources
- BBC. (2010, October 22). Typhoon Megi triggers deadly Taiwan landslides. Accessed October 22, 2010.
- CNN. (2010, October 22). Typhoon Megi unleashes rock slides, traps 400 in Taiwan. Accessed October 22, 2010.
- Joint Typhoon Warning Center. (2010, October 22). Typhoon Megi. Accessed October 22, 2010.
- National Hurricane Center. (2010, August 26). The Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. Accessed October 22, 2010.
- Unisys Weather. (2010, October 22). Super Typhoon-5 Megi. Accessed October 22, 2010.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
