Early on Saturday, May 22, Tropical Storm 02A moved into the Gulf of Aden and was named “Bandu.” At that time, Bandu had maximum sustained winds near 45 knots (52 mph) and was 50 miles north-northwest of Cape Guardafui, Somalia. NASA’s Aqua satellite recently captured Bandu’s fading thunderstorms over inland Somalia.
Before 24 hours had elapsed, Bandu had already dissipated because of cooler waters, higher wind shear and drier air in the Gulf of Aden. It curved southwest and made landfall in northeast Somalia. On May 22 at 22:29 UTC (6:29 p.m. EDT) NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) flying aboard the NASA Aqua satellite captured a small area of cold clouds associated the remnants of Bandu. AIRS measures cloud-top temperatures and noticed the remnants over the Sool and Puntland regions of Somalia.
On Monday, May 24, the remnants of Bandu were still bringing showers to northeastern Somalia. Forecasts for the cities of Garowe and Las Anod call for widely scattered showers and thunderstorms with temperatures in the low 80s (Fahrenheit) as Bandu’s remnants continue to dissipate. Garowe is the capital city of the Puntland administrative region of Somalia. Las Anod is the administrative capital of Sool region of Somalia.
