Typhoon Kirogi was a powerful storm system when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image at 1:05 p.m. local time, on October 18, 2005. At the time of this MODIS observation, Kirogi was approaching the Japanese Islands on a track that would take it roughly parallel to the eastern coast without ever coming ashore. At this time, Typhoon Kirogi had sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour) near the storm’s center. The typhoon was packing a great deal of power, but was waning from its peak strength, which occurred roughly two days before this image.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
