October 29, 2021 - Typhoon Malou

Malou

Typhoon Malou formed over the Pacific Ocean east of Guam, reaching tropical storm strength on October 24. By October 28, maximum sustained winds had peaked at approximately 97.5 mph (157 km/h), placing it as a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

At 11:00 p.m. EDT on October 28 (0300 UTC October 29), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) advised that Typhoon Malou’s maximum sustained winds had dropped to about 86.5 mph (134 km/h) and was located about 244 miles (393 km) northeast of Chichijima, Japan. Formerly known as Peel Island, Chichi Jima is the largest island in the Ogasawara archipelago.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of Typhoon Malou moving over the Ogasawara Islands on October 28. At the time the image was captured, the center of the storm was southwest of the archipelago while heavy convective bands reached over the islands. Local news reported that gusts of 130 km/h (81 mph) were recorded on Chichijima and 165.5 mm (6.5 in) in 17 hours. That’s more rain than the monthly average for October on the island.

Typhoon Malou is expected to continue to weaken as it heads northeast over the Pacific Ocean. Winds are forecast to drop to 46 mph (74 km/h) by late October 29 as Malou merges with a frontal boundary and moves over cooler waters. JTWC terminates its forecast for the storm on October 29 as Malou becomes a gale-force extratropical cyclone well east of Hokkaido, Japan. No further impact with land is expected.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 10/28/2021
Resolutions: 1km (617.1 KB), 500m (1.9 MB), 250m (5.2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC