From late May into early June 2026, a broad, slow-spinning storm churned north-northwest over the Philippine Sea toward southern Japan. Typhoon Jangmi’s rainbands unleashed torrential rainfall across a vast swath of the region, triggering
flooding concerns in several areas.
The
VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime image (above) of the storm at about 16:40 Universal Time on May 30 (1:40 a.m. Japan Standard Time on May 31). Around that time, the [typhoon](https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/cyclone/cyclone_caplink.html?lang=en#:~:text=33m/s%20(64kt)-,Typhoon,-33m/s%20(64kt) produced sustained winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour, based on 1-minute averages reported by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). That’s equivalent to a category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.
The image shows a detailed view of the
eyewall and eye, with a diameter that is on the larger end of the spectrum, according to Scott Braun, a research meteorologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. There also appears to be some low-level rotation on the eastern side of the eye, producing features known as “mesocyclones” that are partially obscured by high-level clouds. Though they appear striking, the features are fairly typical, Braun noted.
The second image shows a wider view of the same storm one day later. The VIIRS on the
NOAA-20 satellite acquired this image at about 16:40 Universal Time on May 31 (1:40 a.m. Japan Standard Time on June 1), when the storm was a slightly stronger typhoon with sustained winds of 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour.
In both images, Jangmi’s eye was still located south of Okinawa. However, the storm’s outer cloud bands already reached over land as the storm moved north. Forecasts called for the storm to make a close approach to Okinawa and then turn northeast toward the Amami region around June 1-2. It was expected to continue delivering large amounts of rain, especially along the nation’s Pacific coast, according to
news reports.
References & Resources
- The Japan Times (2026, June 1)
Tropical Storm Jangmi set to lash wide area of Japan. Accessed June 2, 2026.
- Joint Typhoon Warning Center (2026, June 1)
Prognostic Reasoning for Tropical Storm 06W (Jangmi). Accessed June 2, 2026.
- The New York Times (2026, June 2)
Tracking Tropical Storm Jangmi. Accessed June 2, 2026.
<small>Source: NASA</small>
