AccuWeather.Com
As of Thursday morning, EDT, the center of Tropical Storm 02W was centered near 9.9 north and 111.9 east, or about 370 miles east of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Movement was to the west-northwest at 3 mph. Maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph.
Tropical Storm 02W will continue to creep along to the west-northwest over the next 24-48 hours while gradually gaining strength. This will bring the center of the storm near the southern coast of Vietnam sometime Friday night or Saturday, EDT. At that time it is expected to be a strong tropical storm with a chance that it could reach hurricane strength by that point. In any event, it will bring increasing rains to central and southern Vietnam over the next 24-48 hours with the potential for flooding by this weekend.
Development is not expected elsewhere across the western North Pacific Basin.