Tropical Storm Sonca to Make Landfall in Vietnam! (Photo Credit: NASA)

On July 24, 2017, Tropical Storm Sonca was located about 161 miles east-northeast of Vietnam with sustained winds of 46 mph. Wind shear is effecting the storm by displacing the main thunderstorm activity to the west of the center. The wind shear is weakening however, which will allow Sonca to strengthen a little before making landfall in Vietnam. Tropical Storm Sonca is forecasted to make landfall with maximum sustained winds near 57 mph on Tuesday near the city of Vinh in Vietnam. Watches and warnings have been issued and extend from the North Bacbo Gulf in north Vietnam to Binj Thujan in the south. After making landfall, Sonca is expected to dramatically weaken and be a remnant by Wednesday. The following is the complete text from NASA:

"On July 24 at 1:45 a.m. EDT (05:45 UTC) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible-light image of Tropical Storm Sonca approaching Vietnam. Sonca appears slightly elongated in the visible imagery. Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center who looked at Sonca with multispectral satellite imagery noted that the central convection and thunderstorms associated with the storm were displaced slightly to the west of the center as a result of wind shear. That displacement makes the storm appear somewhat elongated on visible imagery.

That easterly wind shear is weakening, however, which will allow Sonca to strengthen slightly before it makes landfall just south of the city of Vinh. Vinh is the capital of Nghệ An Province and is located on the North Central Coast.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on July 24, Sonca's maximum sustained winds were near 46 mph (40 knots/74 kph). It was centered near 17.0 degrees north latitude and 110.9 degrees east longitude. That's about 161 miles east-northeast of Da Nang, Vietnam. Sonca was moving west at 5.7 mph (5 knots/9.2 kph). 

Warnings and watches stretch from the North Bacbo Gulf in northern Vietnam to Cau Mau to Binj Thujan in the south.

Sonca is forecast to strengthen to 57 mph (50 knots/92 kph) before making landfall in central Vietnam on July 25."

Stay tuned for more in the tropics here!
 
ⓒ 2017 Meteorologist Brandie Cantrell