By the time the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on December 2, 2009, Nida had weakened to a tropical storm. The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that, on December 2, Nida had maximum sustained winds of 50 knots (90 kilometers per hour), with gusts up to 65 knots (120 kilometers per hour). The storm was located roughly 505 nautical miles (935 kilometers) southeast of Kadena.
Unlike earlier images of Nida, this image shows no distinct eye. Nida’s central clouds appear to be an undifferentiated mass. Long tendrils of thinner clouds extend from the center of the storm toward the southwest and curve toward the northeast.
NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott, NASA Earth Observatory.
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