Typhoon Ragasa Steers Toward China | NASA Terra Earth Satellite [Budget Alert]

Typhoon Ragasa Steers Toward China | NASA Terra Earth Satellite [Budget Alert]

This satellite image shows Typhoon Ragasa swirling over the Luzon Strait between the northern Philippines and Taiwan on September 23, 2025. The storm’s eye is visible, surrounded by bands of clouds. In the second image, parts of southern China appear to the northwest of the storm, while the Philippines and Taiwan are labeled to the southeast and northeast. The super typhoon headed for Guangdong province after lashing northern Luzon in the Philippines.

Typhoon season in the northwest Pacific has been quiet for most of 2025. Real-time estimates of accumulated cyclone energy from Colorado State University show that the basin was only half as active as usual as of September 23.

However, Typhoon Ragasa (also called Nando) has broken the quiet spell. The storm emerged on September 18 in the western Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles east of the Philippines. After periods of rapid intensification that brought it to Category 5 strength, the storm lashed northern Luzon on September 22, causing floods, landslides, and damage to crops and property. With sustained winds that reached more than 145 knots (270 kilometers or 165 miles per hour) late on September 21, the super typhoon ranked as the strongest typhoon of 2025.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image of Ragasa at 01:40 Universal Time on September 23, 2025. At the time, forecasters expected the storm to maintain a west-northwestward trajectory, making landfall in southern Guangdong province on September 24 before skirting the coast of the Gulf of Tonkin and moving into northern Vietnam and Laos. As it approaches China, Ragasa is expected to weaken only slightly. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the storm is moving through a “highly favorable environment characterized by strong radial outflow, warm sea surface temperatures, and low vertical wind shear.”

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As of September 23, the storm had displaced tens of thousands of people, caused multiple deaths, and led to power outages and extensive damage in the Philippines, according to news reports. As cleanup efforts began in the Philippines, life in several Chinese cities came to a standstill as people evacuated homes, schools, and workplaces ahead of the storm. Authorities in Vietnam evacuated thousands of households as well, according to news reports.

The Western Pacific typhoon season spans the entire year, but most storms form between May and November with a peak in activity in late August and early September. As of September 23, nineteen named typhoons had formed in 2025, though only two had achieved Category 3 or higher strength for a sustained period.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview
Text Credit: Adam Voiland

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2025

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