Hurricane Season 2011: Tropical Depression 98B (Northern Indian Ocean)

NASA's Aqua Satellite Sees Tropical Depression 98B in North Indian Ocean

Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/, Greenbelt, Md. 

NASA's Aqua Satellite is watching a low pressure area in the northern Indian Ocean that has become a tropical depression. Tropical Depression 98B continues to consolidate and organize, and over the last 24 hours and bands of thunderstorms have formed around its center.

When bands of thunderstorms form around a developing low, it is an indication that the storm is strengthening and getting organized. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of System 98B that showed its cloud cover consolidating into a rounded area of clouds, indicating better circulation.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this infrared image of System 98B, developing into a tropical depression in the Northern Indian Ocean on Nov. 25, 2011. The low pressure center is consolidating, and 98B is expected to become a tropical storm. Credit: NASA/NRL

On Nov. 25, System 98B had maximum sustained winds between 25 and 30 knots (34 mph/55 kmh) which is tropical depression strength. It is located near 4.9 North latitude and 78.3 East longitude and is moving northwest at 13 knots (15 mph/24 kmh). That's about 150 miles (241 km) southwest of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is forecast by the Joint Typhoon Warning center to continue moving to the northwest and may affect southwestern India over the next several days.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center gives System 98B a high chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours.

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