July 24, 2013 - Tropical Storm Cimaron (08W) over Taiwan and China

Tropical Storm Cimaron (08W) over Taiwan and China

Tropical Storm Cimaron became the eighth tropical storm to hit China this year when it made landfall in coastal Zhangpu county at 8:30 p.m. local time (00:30 UTC) on July 18, 2013. At landfall, Cimaron (also known as Isang), was packing maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph (72 km/h), which made it a weak tropical storm. Shortly after landfall, Tropical Storm Cimaron quickly weakened to a tropical depression and dissipated on July 19.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)flying aboard the Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Tropical Storm Cimaron near landfall on July 18 at 02:55 UTC (10:55 p.m. local time). Cimaron’s western edge reaches over the coast of southeastern China, but the storm is rather disorganized. Most of the heaviest thunderstorms at the time of this image were over the South China Sea.

As the storm moved ashore, it brought heavy rains throughout southeastern China, including the same area drenched by Typhoon Soulik on just a few days before. Heavy rains triggered flooding in many areas, with some areas reported to have experienced 1-in-500 year flooding. Fortunately, the winds had weakened enough before landfall that the coast was spared significant storm surge.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 7/18/2013
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,6
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC