NASA eyes Super-typhoon Lekima in the northwestern Pacific

NASA's Terra satellite flew over Lekima after it became a super-typhoon in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and captured visible and infrared data on the storm.

Early on Oct. 23 at 00:25 UTC/Oct. 22 at 8:25 p.m. EDT, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite was busy capturing data on Lekima. The MODIS image clearly showed Lekima's 20 nautical mile/23 mile/37 km-wide-eye with bands of thunderstorms wrapping tightly into the center of circulation.

On Oct. 23 at 11 a.m. EDT/1500 UTC, Lekima's powerful sustained winds were near 140 knots/161.1 mph/259.3 kph. Typhoon-force winds extended 55 nautical miles/63.2 miles/101.9 km from the center, while tropical storm force winds extended 125 nautical miles/143.8 miles/231.5 km from the center. Lekima's eye was located near 19.7 north latitude and 149.2 east longitude, about 443 nautical miles/509 miles/820.4 km northeast of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Lekima was moving to the west-northwest at 11 knots/12.6 mph/20.3 kph.

Lekima is expected to move northwest for the next day and a half before it is pushed to the north and then northeast from an approaching trough (elongated area of low pressure) moving toward it from the west.