The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a visible image of Ferdinand and showed that an eye opened as the storm continued to intensify. A thick band of powerful bands of thunderstorms circled the eye.

NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite found that Tropical Cyclone Ferdinand has developed an eye as it continued to strengthen in the Southern Indian Ocean on Feb. 25, 2020.

On Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center of JTWC noted that Tropical cyclone Ferdinand was located near 15.8 degrees south latitude and 116.5 degrees east longitude, approximately, 413 nautical miles north-northeast of Learmonth, Western Australia.

Ferdinand was moving to the southwest and maximum sustained winds had increased to 90 knots (104 mph/167 kph). That is the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.

JTWC forecasts that Ferdinand will move southwest and strengthen slightly more before starting to weaken. The storm is then expected to curve to the northwest through the Southern Indian Ocean.

Tropical cyclones are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Related content

• What is a tropical cyclone
• What’s the difference between a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone and tornado
• What's the difference between sustained winds and wind gusts

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,-17.853,105.381,5,internal

An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket carrying South Korea's Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) instrument launches Tuesday, Feb. 18, from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

South Korea's Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) instrument on the Korean Aerospace Research Institute GEO-KOMPSAT-2B satellite launched into orbit aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket Tuesday, Feb. 18, from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

A sister instrument to NASA's Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO), GEMS will be the first satellite instrument in a constellation of three satellite instruments that will revolutionize the way scientists observe air quality over significant swaths of the Northern Hemisphere. GEMS will monitor atmospheric gases over Asia hourly during daytime from a geostationary, or fixed, orbit over the equator. This marks a significant leap forward in scientists' ability to monitor air pollution from space.

GEMS is nearly identical to TEMPO, which is scheduled to launch into geostationary orbit in 2022 as a payload on Intelsat 40e. TEMPO will make hourly daytime measurements of air quality over North America. Both GEMS and TEMPO were built by Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado. The European Space Agency's Sentinel-4, currently in development, will observe air quality over Europe.

All three instruments will provide data products that will improve scientists' ability to understand and forecast air quality around the Northern Hemisphere.

Last Updated: Feb. 20, 2020
Editor: Joe Atkinson

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,31.803,-71.543,3,internal

The GPM’s core satellite passed over Uesi on Feb. 14 at 2:11 a.m. EST (0716 UTC). GPM found heaviest rainfall (orange) south of center and in bands far south of the center falling at rates of 1 inch (25 mm) per hour. Light rain appears around the entire system (light blue), falling at less than 0.2 inches (less than 5 millimeters) per hour.

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM satellite provided a look at the rainfall rates on Feb. 14 at 2:11 a.m. EST (0716 UTC). GPM found heaviest rainfall south of center and in bands far south of the center falling at rates of 1 inch (25 mm) per hour. Light rain appears around the entire system, falling at less than 0.2 inches (less than 5 millimeters) per hour.

On Feb. 13 at 2218 UTC (5:18 p.m. EST), the New Zealand Met Service (NZMS) reported “Ex-Tropical Cyclone Uesi was located near Lord Howe Island this morning, and is moving southwest. The system is expected to gradually recurve towards the southeast and move close to the lower South Island during Sunday [Feb.16].”

On Feb. 14, NZMS noted a Heavy Rain Warning is currently in effect for Westland south of Otira. A Heavy Rain Watch is in effect for the remainder of the South Island West Coast and Stewart Island.

NZMS said “A heavy rain warning is in effect for the South Island West Coast and Stewart Island on Sunday [Feb.16] and early Monday [Feb. 17]. Former Tropical Cyclone Uesi is forecast to approach the South Island from the north Tasman Sea overnight Saturday and lie to the west of Fiordland on Sunday.

It should then move southwest from late Sunday onwards and weaken. This system is expected to bring periods of heavy rain to the west and south of the South Island during Sunday and early Monday. Strong to gale north to northwest winds are also expected in parts of the South Island and the lower North Island during this time.”

Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Related content

• What is a tropical cyclone
• What’s the difference between a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone and tornado
• What's the difference between sustained winds and wind gusts

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,-40.196,153.633,5,internal

On Feb. 14, the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of re-formed Tropical Cyclone Francisco heading for landfall in east-central Madagascar.

On Feb. 14, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image that showed the storm had re-developed a rounded shape with bands of thunderstorms spiraling into the low-level center. A more rounded shape of a tropical cyclone indicates it is becoming a more organized storm.

Satellite imagery shows a compact system with strong thunderstorms persisting over the low-level circulation. In addition, satellite microwave imagery indicates deep convective banding of thunderstorms over the western semicircle wrapping into the north and east quadrants of a defined low-level circulation center.

On Feb. 14 at 4 a.m. EST (0900 UTC), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted that Francisco’s maximum sustained winds powered back up to 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph). Francisco re-formed near latitude 19.0 degrees south and longitude 49.3 east, approximately 114 nautical miles east of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Francisco has tracked southwestward.

Meteo Madagascar issued a Red Vigilance Advisory for heavy rain over central and eastern Madagascar that includes Toamasina, Brickaville, Mahanoro, and the Vatomandry Districts.

The JTWC forecast said the system is expected to make landfall later today over the southeast coast of Atsinanana Region, close to Vatomandry City. That is far to the south of the coastal city of Toamasina. Francisco is expected to weaken steadily as it tracks inland and dissipate sometime on Feb. 15 over land.

NASA’s Aqua satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research.

Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts from Meteo Madagascar, visit www.meteomadagascar.mg

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://www.windy.com/-Wind-accumulation-gustAccu?gustAccu,-21.596,37.222,5,internal

Related content

• What is a tropical cyclone
• What’s the difference between a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone and tornado
• What's the difference between sustained winds and wind gusts
  

On Feb. 13 at 0315 UTC (Feb. 12 at 10:15 p.m. EST), the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Uesi being adversely affected by vertical wind shear.

On Feb. 13 at 0315 UTC (Feb. 12 at 10:15 p.m. EST), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Uesi being adversely affected by vertical wind shear. The image showed that the bulk of clouds were being pushed to the southeast of the center of circulation.

In general, wind shear is a measure of how the speed and direction of winds change with altitude. Tropical cyclones are like rotating cylinders of winds. Each level needs to be stacked on top each other vertically in order for the storm to maintain strength or intensify. Wind shear occurs when winds at different levels of the atmosphere push against the rotating cylinder of winds, weakening the rotation by pushing it apart at different levels. Northwesterly wind shear was affecting Uesi and pushing the bulk of clouds to the southeast of the center.

At 0300 UTC on Feb. 13 (10 p.m. EST on Feb. 12), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued the final bulletin on Tropical cyclone Uesi. At that time, Uesi was located near latitude 27.7 degrees south and longitude 161.1 degrees east, about 332 nautical miles southwest of Noumea, New Caledonia. Uesi had maximum sustained winds near 55 knots (63 mph/102 kph). The storm was moving to the south-southwest.

On Feb. 13 at 11:59 pm AEDT (Australia Eastern Time) or 7:59 a.m. EST, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) noted “Ex-tropical cyclone Uesi is moving rapidly southwards and will produce destructive wind gusts at Lord Howe Island over the next few hours.” ABM said that the system is expected to maintain an intensity equivalent to a category 2 tropical cyclone as it passes the island. For updates from ABM, visit: http://www.bom.gov.au/.

NASA’s Aqua satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research.

Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,-21.600,153.911,5,internal

Related content

• NASA Finds Heavy Rain Southwest of Tropical Cyclone Uesi’s Center
• What is a tropical cyclone
• What’s the difference between a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone and tornado
• What's the difference between sustained winds and wind gusts
  

On Feb. 6, 2020, the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of newly developed Tropical Storm Damien off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast.

On Feb. 6, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Damien that showed the storm had a more rounded shape than it did the previous day, as it continued to consolidate.

A more rounded shape of a tropical cyclone indicates it is becoming a more organized storm. Satellite imagery revealed a small central dense overcast area with rain bands wrapping in towards the low-level circulation center.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) issued warnings and watches for Damien on Feb. 6.

• The Warning Zone includes Wallal Downs to Mardie, including Port Hedland, Karratha and Dampier.
• The Watch Zone extends from Mardie to Onslow, and the inland central Pilbara including Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Marble Bar and Nullagine.
• A Blue Alert is in effect for residents in or near Wallal Downs to Port Hedland and Mardie to Onslow but not including Onslow, (including the towns of Pannawonica, Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Nullagine and Marble Bar).
• A Yellow Alert is in effect for residents in or near Port Hedland to Mardie and south to Millstream (including the Town of Port Hedland, Whim Creek, Point Samson, Wickham, Roebourne, Karratha and Dampier).

At 11:00 p.m. AWST (10 a.m. EST) on Feb. 6, the ABM said Tropical Cyclone Damien had maximum sustained winds near 75 kilometers per hour (40 knots/47 mph) with higher gusts.

It was located near latitude 17.5 degrees south and longitude 118.1 degrees east, about 315 kilometers (196 miles) north of Port Hedland and 385 kilometers (239 miles) north-northeast of Karratha. Damien is moving to the west-southwest at 20 kilometers (12 miles) per hour.

The tropical cyclone is expected to continue to intensify as it tracks to the west southwest. Damien is expected to turn south towards the Pilbara coast during Friday, Feb 7. ABM cautioned that, “Severe tropical cyclone impact is forecast for the Pilbara coast during Saturday, Feb. 8.”

NASA’s Aqua satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research.

Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts from ABM, visit: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDW60281.shtml

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,-29.803,122.783,4,internal

On Feb. 6, 2020, the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Terra satellite provided a visible image of newly developed Tropical Storm Damien off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast.

On Feb. 6, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Terra satellite provided a visible image of Damien that showed the storm had a more rounded shape than it did the previous day as it continued to consolidate. A more rounded shape of a tropical cyclone indicates it is becoming a more organized storm. Satellite imagery revealed a small central dense overcast with rain bands wrapping in towards the low-level circulation center.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) issued warnings and watches for Damien on Feb. 6. The Warning Zone includes Wallal Downs to Mardie, including Port Hedland, Karratha and Dampier. The Watch Zone extends from Mardie to Onslow, and the inland central Pilbara including Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Marble Bar and Nullagine. A Blue Alert is in effect for residents in or near Wallal Downs to Port Hedland and Mardie to Onslow but not including Onslow, (including the towns of Pannawonica, Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Nullagine and Marble Bar). A Yellow Alert is in effect for residents in or near Port Hedland to Mardie and south to Millstream (including the Town of Port Hedland, Whim Creek, Point Samson, Wickham, Roebourne, Karratha and Dampier).

At 11:00 p.m. AWST (10 a.m. EST) on Feb. 6, the ABM said Tropical Cyclone Damien had maximum sustained winds near 75 kilometers per hour (40 knots/47 mph) with higher gusts. It was located near latitude 17.5 degrees south and longitude 118.1 degrees east, about 315 kilometers (196 miles) north of Port Hedland and 385 kilometers (239 miles) north-northeast of Karratha. Damien is moving to the west-southwest at 20 kilometers (12 miles) per hour.

The tropical cyclone is expected to continue to intensify as it tracks to the west southwest. Damien is expected to turn south towards the Pilbara coast during Friday, Feb 7. ABM cautioned that, “Severe tropical cyclone impact is forecast for the Pilbara coast during Saturday, Feb. 8.”

NASA’s Terra satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research.

Tropical cyclones/hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts from ABM, visit bom.gov.au/products/IDW60281.shtml

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,-29.803,122.783,4,internal

The local impacts of the Australian bushfires have been devastating to property and life in Australia while producing extreme air quality impacts throughout the region.

As smoke from the massive fires has interacted with the global weather, the transport of smoke plumes around the global have accelerated through deep vertical transport into the upper troposphere and even the lowermost stratosphere, leading to long-range transport around the globe.

The smoke from these bushfires will travel across the Southern Ocean completing a global circumnavigation back around to Australia and is particularly pronounced across the southern Pacific Ocean out to South America.

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,-35.568,130.869,4,internal

Earth’s long-term warming trend can be seen in this visualization of NASA’s global temperature record, which shows how the planet’s temperatures are changing over time, compared to a baseline average from 1951 to 1980. The record is shown as a running five-year average.

According to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Earth's global surface temperatures in 2019 were the second warmest since modern recordkeeping began in 1880.

Globally, 2019 temperatures were second only to those of 2016 and continued the planet's long-term warming trend: the past five years have been the warmest of the last 140 years.

This past year, they were 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (0.98 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

“The decade that just ended is clearly the warmest decade on record,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. “Every decade since the 1960s clearly has been warmer than the one before.”

Since the 1880s, the average global surface temperature has risen and the average temperature is now more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit (a bit more than 1 degree Celsius) above that of the late 19th century. For reference, the last Ice Age was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit colder than pre-industrial temperatures.

This plot shows yearly temperature anomalies from 1880 to 2019, with respect to the 1951-1980 mean, as recorded by NASA, NOAA, the Berkeley Earth research group, the Met Office Hadley Centre (UK), and the Cowtan and Way analysis. Though there are minor variations from year to year, all five temperature records show peaks and valleys in sync with each other. All show rapid warming in the past few decades, and all show the past decade has been the warmest.

Using climate models and statistical analysis of global temperature data, scientists have concluded that this increase mostly has been driven by increased emissions into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by human activities.

“We crossed over into more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit warming territory in 2015 and we are unlikely to go back. This shows that what’s happening is persistent, not a fluke due to some weather phenomenon: we know that the long-term trends are being driven by the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” Schmidt said.

Because weather station locations and measurement practices change over time, the interpretation of specific year-to-year global mean temperature differences has some uncertainties. Taking this into account, NASA estimates that 2019’s global mean change is accurate to within 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit, with a 95% certainty level.

Weather dynamics often affect regional temperatures, so not every region on Earth experienced similar amounts of warming. NOAA found the 2019 annual mean temperature for the contiguous 48 United States was the 34th warmest on record, giving it a “warmer than average” classification. The Arctic region has warmed slightly more than three times faster than the rest of the world since 1970.

Rising temperatures in the atmosphere and ocean are contributing to the continued mass loss from Greenland and Antarctica and to increases in some extreme events, such as heat waves, wildfires, intense precipitation.

NASA’s temperature analyses incorporate surface temperature measurements from more than 20,000 weather stations, ship- and buoy-based observations of sea surface temperatures, and temperature measurements from Antarctic research stations.

These in situ measurements are analyzed using an algorithm that considers the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and urban heat island effects that could skew the conclusions. These calculations produce the global average temperature deviations from the baseline period of 1951 to 1980.

NOAA scientists used much of the same raw temperature data, but with a different interpolation into the Earth’s polar and other data-poor regions. NOAA’s analysis found 2019 global temperatures were 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.95 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average.

NASA’s full 2019 surface temperature data set and the complete methodology used for the temperature calculation and its uncertainties are available at data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp

GISS is a laboratory within the Earth Sciences Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.

NASA uses the unique vantage point of space to better understand Earth as an interconnected system. The agency also uses airborne and ground-based measurements, and develops new ways to observe and study Earth with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. NASA shares this knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information about NASA’s Earth science activities, visit www.nasa.gov/earth.

The slides for the Jan. 15 news conference are available at NOAA/NCDC website (PDF).

NOAA’s Global Report is available at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201913

Related report from Copernicus

• Copernicus Report: 2019 was the second warmest year and the last five years were the warmest on record

https://www.windy.com/-Temperature-temp?temp,14.520,-48.516,3,internal

The decade started with 53.1 mm of sea level rise (as compared to 1993) and saw some fluctuations throughout the years, however, the trend consistently shows an increasing trend, and we're ending this decade with 94.9 mm.

It won't be surprising to see this number to breach 100-mm level in the early 2020's due to the continuous melting of the ice caps, thermal expansion, and other factors contributing to the sea level rise.

As an archipelagic country and with major cities located along the coast, the Philippines should really take note and prepare for this, especially if we go with business-as-usual activities.

Earth Shaker is an organization which aims to shake the appreciation of Earth Sciences in the society and empower citizens to have science-based decisions. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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At 4 a.m. EST (0900 UTC) on Dec. 6 Ambali was a Category 4 hurricane equivalent on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale with maximum sustained winds near 135 knots (155 mph/250 kph). By 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on Dec. 6, those winds had dropped by 45 knots (52 mph/83 kph).

It was after that drop in sustained wind speed on Dec. 6, 2019, the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Ambali.

The eye of the storm was difficult to pinpoint in the MODIS image, which indicated a rapid weakening from its previous status. Animated enhanced infrared satellite imagery shows a rapidly decaying system with cycling convection wrapping into an embedded low-level circulation center.

At 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on Dec. 6, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted that Tropical Cyclone Ambali was located near 11.7 degrees south latitude and 62.1 degrees east longitude. That is about 583 nautical miles north-northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. Maximum sustained winds 90 knots (104 mph/167 kph). The storm is on weakening trend now that will lead to its demise by Dec. 10.

Forecasters at the JTWC Ambali will move south-southwest and appears to have reached peak intensity. The storm is expected to dissipate after three days.

NASA’s Aqua satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research.

Tropical cyclones are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,-5.922,66.050,4,internal

Instantaneous surface rain rates (mm/hr) associated with Typhoon Kammuri derived from the Dual-polarization Radar onboard the GPM core satellite at 18:27 UTC 29 November 2019 (3:27 am Palau Time, PWT, 30 November) when the storm was moving westward through the central Philippine Sea. GPM showed areas of moderate to heavy rain (shown in yellow, orange and red, respectively) organized into loose bands rotating around the northern and western side of the storm. Image from NASA GSFC using GPM data archived at https://pps.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

While the Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on November 30, Typhoon Kammuri (known as Tisoy in the Philippines), which recently struck the central Philippines as a powerful Category 4 typhoon, is a reminder that the Pacific typhoon season is not yet over.

In fact, while typhoon season does peak from around June through November, similar to the Atlantic, typhoons can occur throughout the year in the Pacific.

History of Kammuri

Kammuri first formed into a tropical depression from an area of low pressure on the 25th of November north of Micronesia in the west central Pacific about 500 miles southeast of Guam.

Kammuri intensified slowly and was still a tropical storm when the center passed about 130 miles south of Guam on the evening of Dec. 26.

As the storm made its way through the eastern and central Philippine Sea over the next few days it was kept in check at times by moderate wind shear and hovered around typhoon intensity.

Typhoon Kammuri’s surface rainfall accumulations estimated from the NASA IMERG from Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. EST to Dec 3 at 10 p.m. EST. Heaviest rains were over the central Philippine Sea where the cyclone stalled. Those were well over 500 mm (~20 inches, in red). Most of the central Philippines, including southern Luzon, received up to 150 mm or more (over 6 inches, light blue areas) with the highest amounts over the northern half of the island of Samar where rainfall totals ranged from 250 to 350 mm (~10 to 14 inches, shown in yellow and light orange). Credit: NASA GSFC using IMERG data/with the Giovanni online data system, developed and maintained by the NASA GES DISC.

Analyzing Kammuri’s Rainfall from Space

During this period, the GPM core satellite overflew the storm. The first image was taken at on Nov. 29, 2019 at 1:27 p.m. EST (18:27 UTC/Nov. 30, 2019 at 3:27 a.m. local Palau Time, PWT) and shows surface rain rates within Kammuri from the GPM Dual-polarization Radar (DPR) when the storm was about 800 miles east of the Philippines.

At the time, Kammuri was a Category 1 typhoon with sustained winds estimated at 85 mph by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

GPM, a satellite managed by both NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, showed areas of moderate to heavy rain organized into loose bands rotating around the northern and western side of the storm.

The eye, which is located along the right side of the image, was identifiable by the curvature in the inner rain bands, but the eyewall itself appeared rather weak.

These features are consistent with Kammuri having a well-developed though not yet powerful circulation. That would change over the next few days as Kammuri began to approach the Philippines.

Initially, Kammuri weakened slightly after the time of the GPM overpass, but then on the evening of December 1 (local time), the storm began a rapid deepening cycle and intensified from a Category 1 typhoon with sustained winds estimated at 80 mph by JTWC at 12:00 UTC (7 a.m. EST/9:00 pm PWT) on the Dec. 1 to a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 130 mph just 24 hours later. It was at this time that Kammuri made its first landfall in the Philippines around 11:00 p.m. local time near Gubat in the Bicol region in the Province of Sorsogon along the southeastern tip of Luzon.

As it continued on westward through the central Philippines, Kammuri weakened, crossing the island of Mindoro as a Category 2 storm before exiting the Philippines into the eastern South China Sea.

IMERG Finds Heavy Rains in the Philippines

In addition to its powerful winds, Kammuri brought heavy rains to the Philippines. IMERG, the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM, is a unified satellite precipitation product produced by NASA to estimate surface precipitation over most of the globe. IMERG is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

With IMERG, precipitation estimates from the GPM core satellite are used to calibrate precipitation estimates from microwave and infrared sensors on other satellites to produce half-hourly precipitation maps at 0.1o horizontal resolution.

IMERG surface rainfall accumulations for the period from Nov. 25 through Dec. 3 for the Philippines and the surrounding region from the time when Kammuri first became a tropical depression southeast of Guam until it had passed over Mindoro and into the South China Sea.

The heaviest rains associated with Kammuri by far are off shore, especially over the central Philippine Sea where the cyclone stalled for a period producing rainfall totals well over 500 mm (~20 inches).

Over land, most of the central Philippines, including southern Luzon, received on the order of 150 mm or more (over 6 inches) with the highest amounts over the northern half of the island of Samar where rainfall totals are on the order of 250 to 350 mm (~10 to 14 inches).

So far, Kammuri is being blamed for up to 17 fatalities in the Philippines. After leaving the Philippines, Kammuri weakened significantly and is expected to weaken even further and dissipate as the cyclone is sheared apart and driven southward by the northeast monsoon.

Kammuri’s Status on Dec. 5

On Dec. 5 at 4 a.m. EST (0900 UTC), Tropical Storm Kammuri was in the South China Sea and was dealing with adverse atmospheric conditions, which were weakening the storm. It was centered near latitude 13.8 degrees north and longitude 113.7 degrees east, about 340 nautical miles east-southeast of Da Nang, Vietnam. Kammuri was moving to the southwest and had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/65 kph), making it a Category 1 tropical storm.

Kammuri continues to weaken and is expected to dissipate soon.

Steve Lang
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

https://www.windy.com/-Satellite-satellite?satellite,9.882,113.994,3,internal

Visible, infrared and microwave imagery from NASA satellites help forecasters understand if a storm is organizing or weakening. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA’S Suomi NPP provided an infrared and nighttime image of Kammuri on Nov. 28 at 1:39 p.m. EST (1639 UTC) that shows it is consolidating and strengthening. The circulation was obscured by the central dense overcast or CDO. CDO is a large central area of thunderstorms surrounding its circulation center, caused by the formation of its eyewall. It can be round, angular, oval, or irregular in shape.

Suomi NPP found a noticeable increase in the size of the CDO, perhaps an indication of some strengthening of the storm.

William Straka III, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Space Science and Engineering Center’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies used the satellite data to create imagery. Straka said, “Collocated observations of the location of the CDO and microwave imagery are important to help measure the intensity of a tropical cyclone, by seeing how far the center of circulation is within the storm and the temperature difference in the cloud tops in the CDO. Since microwave imagers can see ‘into the cloud,’ this helps in determining the location of the tropical system.”

Straka also noted “However, an important thing to note is that the circulation in one satellite channel is not completely surrounded by the convection.”

At 7 p.m. CHST, local time, Guam (4 a.m. EST/0900 UTC) on Nov. 29, the National Weather Service in Tiyan, Guam noted that the center of typhoon Kammuri was located near latitude 14.5 degrees north and longitude 137.3 degrees east. That puts the eye of Kammuri about 350 miles north-northwest of Ulithi, 350 miles north of Yap, 395 miles north-northwest of Fais and 505 miles west of Guam.

Kammuri is moving west-northwest at 7 mph. It is expected to make a turn toward the west-southwest with a slight increase in forward speed over the next 24 hours. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 85 mph. Kammuri is forecast to maintain this intensity through Saturday, Nov. 30. Typhoon force winds extend outward from the center up to 35 miles. Tropical storm force winds extend outward from the Center up to 145 miles.

The forecast track for Kammuri takes the storm due west toward the Philippines. The forecast from Joint Typhoon Warning Center has Kammuri intensifying to about 125 knots (144 mph/232 kph) by December 1, 2019, which would be the equivalent to a Category 4 storm in the Atlantic. The storm is expected to make landfall in the central and northern Philippines on Dec. 3.

Typhoons and hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts visit weather.gov/gum/Cyclones

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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On Nov. 7, NASA’s Terra satellite passed over the northwestern Pacific Ocean and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard captured a visible image of Halong. The MODIS image showed powerful thunderstorms circling the center of circulation and a band of thunderstorms northeast of center. Combined, the storm looked like a boxing glove from space with the “thumb” as the band of storms that curved to the east of the center. Satellite imagery using microwaves revealed that there is an eye under that large area of thunderstorms circling the center.

At 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on Nov. 7, the center of Typhoon Halong was located near latitude 24.8 degrees north and longitude 152.2 degrees east. That puts the center about 110 nautical miles west of Minami Tori Shima, Japan. Maximum sustained winds were near 90 knots (104 mph/167 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted, “Halong will accelerate poleward [north] while gradually turning northeastward to east-northeastward. The environment will become more unfavorable with increasing vertical wind shear and cooling sea surface temperatures.” That means the storm will experience a weakening trend and after a day, the storm is expected to start transitioning into an extra-tropical storm.

Typhoons and hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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Visible imagery from NASA satellites help forecasters understand if a storm is organizing or weakening. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a visible image of Matmo on Oct. 30 and found the storm taking on a much more rounded shape than the previous day.

The shape of the storm is a clue to forecasters that a storm is either strengthening or weakening. If a storm takes on a more rounded shape it is getting more organized and strengthening. Conversely, if it becomes less rounded or elongated, it is a sign the storm is weakening.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on Oct. 30, the center of Matmo was near latitude 13.2 degrees north and longitude 111.0 degrees east. The post-tropical cyclone was moving toward the west-northwest. Maximum sustained winds associated with this system are near 46 mph (40 knots/74 kph) with higher gusts.

Vietnam’s National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) has posted a tropical storm warning for southeast central Vietnam. Matmo is expected to make landfall near Nha Trang. Nha Trang lies on the coast and is the capital of the Khanh Hoa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects that Matmo will move west-northwest to make landfall in Vietnam later in the day.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts from the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF), visit: http://www.nchmf.gov.vn/

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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The GPM’s core satellite passed over the eastern side of Narda’s remnants on Oct. 1 at 12:16 a.m. EDT (0416 UTC). GPM found scattered light rain from the remnant clouds falling at around 0.2 inches (5 millimeters) per hour. Forecasters at NOAA’s National Hurricane Center or NHC incorporated that rainfall data into their forecast.

NHC said, “Narda is expected to produce additional rainfall of up to 2 inches across portions of Chihuahua and Sonora. Moisture from Narda will spread northeastward across portions of the U.S. Southern Plains for the next couple of days, enhancing rainfall and the threat of flash flooding in those areas.”

On Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the remnants of Narda were located near latitude 27.3 degrees north and longitude 110.3 degrees west. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 30 mph (45 kph) and are weakening. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1005 millibars.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA.

For additional information, please see excessive rainfall products issued by the NOAA Weather Prediction Center.

Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a visible image of Mitag on Oct. 1, showing its eye was just off the coast of China’s Zhejiang province in the East China Sea. The VIIRS image revealed some bands of thunderstorms wrapped around the partially-exposed, ragged low-level center of circulation off the China coast.

• Click here to get the latest news on Typhoon Mitag

The main area of deep convection (rising air that forms thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone) and thunderstorms is located north of center and had decoupled from the center. That decoupled area of storms extended northeast to the Korean Peninsula and to Kyushu, the southwestern most of Japan’s main islands.

Visible imagery from NASA satellites helps forecasters understand if a storm is organizing or weakening. The shape of a tropical cyclone provides forecasters with an idea of its organization and strength. The more circular a storm appears, the stronger it can be.

Because the bulk of Mitag's clouds and showers are pushed north of the center, it appears to be weakening. The image was created by the NASA Worldview Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

On Oct. 1, the China Meteorological Administration posted several warnings including Typhoon Warning, and warnings for heavy rain.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on Oct. 1, Typhoon Mitag had maximum sustained winds near 65 knots (75 mph/120 kph). It was centered near 28.7 degrees north latitude and 122.3 degrees east longitude, about 156 nautical miles south-southeast of Shanghai, China. Mitag is moving north. Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect Mitag will turn to the northeast and pass over South Korea while weakening. It is expected to become extra-tropical in the Sea of Japan.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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