NASA's Aqua satellite saw the sixteenth tropical depression of the Eastern Pacific Ocean come together on Aug. 28.
At 5:40 a.m. EDT (0940 UTC) on Aug. 28 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard Aqua used infrared data to measure cloud top temperatures in Tropical Depression 16E (TD16E) when it was forming.
Coldest cloud tops were near minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 degrees Celsius). Aqua observed fragmented bands of thunderstorms circling a low-level center of circulation and some stronger storms within them.
Storms with cloud top temperatures that cold have the capability to produce heavy rainfall. That heavy rain was falling over open ocean waters.
On August 28, 2018 there were no coastal watches or warnings in effect because TD16E formed far from land. It was located about 420 miles (675 km) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico.
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of newly formed Tropical Depression Sixteen-E was located near latitude 17.1 degrees north and longitude 111.8 degrees west. The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 10 mph (17 kph), and this motion is expected to continue for the next day or so with a gradual turn to the west thereafter.
NOAAs National Hurricane Center said "Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts. Some strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm later today or on Wednesday, and a hurricane by Thursday (Aug. 30)."
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For updated forecasts from the NHC, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
By Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center