NASA Satellite Image Shows Deadly Typhoon Morakot Slamming Taiwan

Taiwan has already reported flooding rains, landslides, gusty winds and power outages on Friday, August 7 as Morakot was making landfall and crossing the island nation on its way to a final landfall in China on Saturday. BBC News reported some mountainous areas of northern Taiwan had already received up to 20 inches of rain. Taiwan has ordered airline flights canceled and schools closed.

NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the 1,000 mile in diameter-wide Morakot and captured an awesome image of its clouds using the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on August 7 at 1:25 a.m. EDT. The image shows Morakot's center about to cross over east-central Taiwan. Morakot is so large that the southern extent of its cloud cover and heavy rains reach into the northern Philippines. According to People's Daily on-line, ten people have already lost their lives to Morakot's wrath.

On Friday, Aug. 7 at 11 a.m. EDT, Morakot's sustained winds were near 92 mph (80 knots). Satellite imagery is showing the beginning development of an "eye" in Morakot's center, indicating its strengthening as it approaches landfall in Taiwan. The center of the storm was near 24.0 north and 121.7 east, about 70 miles south-southeast of Taipei, Taiwan, moving west-northwest.

After Morakot's landfall in Taiwan it is forecast to turn northwest after reemerging into the Strait of Taiwan. Forecasters at the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center are forecasting that Morakot "will enter the Taiwan Strait as a weak typhoon and should maintain its intensity through the strait due to favorable sea surface temperatures and minimal vertical wind shear values."

The forecast track looks like the storm will form an "L" on its path. It is expected to lose some of its strength as its eye crosses part of Taiwan. Landfall is expected to occur on Saturday in mainland China near Fuzhou and the storm is then expected to shoot north, just to the west of Shanghai.