Satellite imagery shows Typhoon Vamco has a huge 45-mile wide eye

At 2 a.m. EDT on August 25, Vamco was still enroute to the Alaskan islands headed north-northeast at 38 mph in the north Central Pacific Ocean. He was about 980 miles west-southwest of Kiska, Alaska. That's near 41.6 north and 158.9 east. Vamco will continue moving northeast toward the far southwestern Aleutian Islands.

NASA's QuikScat satellite was able to peer through Vamco's clouds on August 24 using microwave technology and actually measure the winds on the surface of the ocean beneath him. QuikScat found Vamco still had sustained winds near 65 knots (74 mph), so he was still at a category one hurricane strength at that time.

Meanwhile, in the early morning hours of August 25, visible satellite imagery from NASA's Terra satellite and the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument revealed Vamco's clouds still had a good circulation.

Vamco is starting to weaken, however. Infrared satellite imagery, such as that from NASA's Aqua satellite's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument, indicated that Vamco's eye has become elongated and grown larger. Also, Vamco's convection and rainfall has started to erode as wind shear has increased. Vamco is expected to continue weakening as winds continue to batter his circulation.

Although the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center has issued their final advisory on Vamco, shipping interests in the North Pacific Ocean should be aware of high seas.

Text credit: Text credit: Rob Gutro/NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center