Usually when a tropical cyclone weakens it expands and that's how Tropical Storm Maliksi has appeared in recent NASA satellite imagery as its strength wanes.
On June 10, the MODIS or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible light image of the storm. The eastern quadrant of the storm appeared stretched out a couple of hundred miles as a result of strong vertical wind shear. In the image, Japan was located to the west of the storm's center.
On June 11 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) Maliksi's center was located near 26.7 degrees north latitude and 145.8 degrees east longitude. That's about 237 nautical miles east of Yokosuka, Japan. Maliksi has been moving northeastward at 38 mph (33 knots/61 kph). Maximum sustained winds were near 52 mph (45 knots/83 kph).
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted "Animated enhanced infrared satellite imagery shows that the cloud field around the low level circulation center continues to expand. At 6:59 a.m. EDT 1159 UTC) a satellite image showed that the low-level center was displaced from the upper level circulation due to strong vertical wind shear."
Environmental analysis showed that Maliksi was experiencing strong (40 to 50 knot) vertical wind shear. In addition to the strong wind shear, the storm is now moving over waters that are not warm enough to maintain strength (below 80 degrees Fahrenheit/26.6 degrees Celsius).
Maliksi is becoming extratropical and will complete extratropical transition the end of the day on June 11 as it continues to track to the northeast. JTWC issued their final warning on this system.
###