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Tropical Cyclone 03B
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone 03B |
| Description |
Cyclonic storms in the Arabian Sea are rare, but not unheard of. Two tropical cyclones in the space of a month, on the other hand, is quite rare indeed. Unlike its predecessor, Tropical Cyclone Gonu, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14295 ] Cyclone 03B originated on the opposite side of the Indian Peninsula in the Bay of Bengal. At 11:10 a.m. local time (06:10 UTC) on June 25, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image, Tropical Cyclone 03B was reforming in the Arabian Sea south of the Pakistan coast after having crossed over India. The storm system has a discernible spiraling shape, but does not appear well-formed in this image. The storm has no distinct eye, suggesting that it was not particularly well organized. At the time, sustained winds were measured at 60 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour) according to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center. [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] The storm flooded India's Andhra Pradesh province, resulting in 45 deaths, according to Weather Underground. [ http://www.wunderground.com/ ] It also caused flooding and wind damage in Karachi, Pakistan, where the death toll was around 200, according to BBC News. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/ ] After crossing land, the storm reached the Arabian Sea and began to reform. As of June 26, forecasts were calling for the storm to gain some organization and power, skirt the Pakistan coast, and make landfall again somewhere near the border between Iran and Pakistan. Storm surge from Cyclone 03B was predicted to be moderately high, even though the storm was not strong, since the offshore waters are shallow, similar to the northern Gulf of Mexico. Because these kinds of storms are rare in the area, coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to storm surge damage. You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone 03B KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jun2007/ cyc03b_tmo_2007158.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Favio |
| Description |
Tropical Cyclone Favio came ashore on the coast of Mozambique in the morning of February 22, 2007. At the time it crossed the shoreline, Favio had lost some strength from its peak the previous day, but still had extremely powerful winds that measured around 203 kilometers per hour (126 miles per hour), according to the Tropical Storm Risk.com [ http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/ ] and Reuters AlertNet. [ http://www.alertnet.org/ ] The cyclone, the strongest recorded storm to hit Mozambique, was heading directly towards the Zambezi River valley region. This region suffered heavy rains associated with the onset of the monsoon, and severe flooding along the Zambezi River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14115 ] in mid-February killed dozens of people and forced more than a hundred thousand people to evacuate, according to reports [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-6YMDSC?OpenDocument ] from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies posted online by ReliefWeb. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm ] This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 22, 2007, at 10:20 a.m. local time (8:20 UTC), just as the storm was coming ashore. The eye of the storm was just off the coast as MODIS observed the cyclone. Favio had the recognizable shape of a mature, southern hemisphere tropical cyclone, with spiral arms showing its clockwise rotation, and a well-defined eye with strong eyewall (inner ring) clouds. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2007053-0222/Favio.A2007053.0820 ] You can also download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Favio KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Feb2007/ Favio.A2007053.0820.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Favio |
| Description |
Tropical Cyclone Favio formed in the western Indian Ocean about 1,200 kilometers from Madagascar on February 14, 2007. It gradually moved southwest, passing well offshore of Reunion and Mauritius Islands. By February 20, it was just off the southern shore of Madagascar as a well-formed, mature storm. While the storm system had largely skirted around populated areas to that point, forecasters were concerned about its behavior as it entered the warmer waters of the Mozambique Channel. The storm was forecast to reach Category Four [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] strength before coming ashore and tracking inland through Zimbabwe and Zambia, bringing heavy rains to already flooded areas. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14115 ] This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 20, 2007, at 2:15 p.m. local time (11:15 UTC). The storm was turning north around the southern end of Madagscar, headed for the Mozambique Channel. Favio had the recognizable shape of a southern-hemisphere tropical cyclone, with spiral arms showing its clockwise rotation. The spiral arms are well-defined and tightly wound. A distinct eye at the center of the storm is only partially filled with clouds (a "partially closed" eye). These are all signs of a well-developed and powerful storm, consistent with the cyclone's strength. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http:/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3 www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] Favio had steady winds of around 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour) around the time MODIS made this observation. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. You can also download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Favio KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Feb2007/Favio.A2007051.1115.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Favio |
| Description |
Category 4-strength Cyclone Favio was closing the gap between Madagascar and mainland Africa on February 21, 2007, preparing to strike Mozambique in coming days. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite shows Favio stretched across the Mozambique Channel at 9:35 a.m. (local time) Wednesday morning. The outermost bands of clouds on the western side of the storm were already brushing the coast of Inhambane province in southern Mozambique. A thick ring of "boiling" clouds surrounds the eye of the storm. Favio had weakened slightly to a Category 3 storm between the time the image was acquired and this posting. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast issued at 12:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. Mozambique local time) on February 21 indicated that Favio had sustained wind speeds of 100 knots (about 185 kilometers/hour, 115 miles/hour), with gusts up to 125 knots (about 232 kilometers/hour, 144 miles/hour). The forecast called for the storm to weaken before making landfall within 24 hours, but the impacts were still expected to be severe. The country was already water-logged from heavy rains associated with the onset of the monsoon, and severe flooding along the Zambezi River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14115 ] in mid-February killed dozens of people and forced more than a hundred thousand people to evacuate, according to reports [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-6YMDSC?OpenDocument ] from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies posted online by ReliefWeb. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm ] The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. You can also download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Favio KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Feb2007/Favio.A2007052.0735.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Favio |
| Description |
Tropical Cyclone Favio came ashore on the coast of Mozambique on the morning of February 22, 2007. At the time it crossed the shoreline, Favio had lost some strength from its peak the previous day, but still had extremely powerful winds. The cyclone continued to weaken as it passed over land, becoming a tropical depression. As of 8:00 a.m. local time (0600 UTC), winds were down to 60 kilometers per hour (38 miles per hour), according to the South African Weather Service. [ http://www.weathersa.co.za/ ] This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 23, 2007, at 1:45 p.m. local time (11:45 UTC), as the tropical depression was crossing into Zimbabwe. The storm still has a distinct balled-up form left over from its cyclone state the previous day, but once over land, the strong circular eye and powerful eyewall storms typical of a cylone were gone. As it traveled farther inland towards the Zambezi River valley, the storm brought heavy rains to Zimbabwe. This region had already suffered from heavy rains associated with the onset of the monsoon, and severe flooding along the Zambezi River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14115 ] in mid-February killed dozens of people and forced more than a hundred thousand people to evacuate, according to reports [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-6YMDSC?OpenDocument ] from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies posted online by ReliefWeb. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm ] There had been widespread additional evacuations ahead of Cyclone Favio's arrival. You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Favio KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Feb2007/favio_amo_2007054.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Favio |
| Description |
) satellite on February 20 and February 22, 2007. TRMM was placed into its low-earth orbit in November 1997 to measure rainfall from space, however, it has also served as a valuable platform for monitoring tropical cyclones, especially over remote parts of the open ocean. The images show the rainfall intensity. Rain rates in the center of the swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, while those in the outer portion are from the TRMM Microwave Imager. The rain rates are overlaid on infrared data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner. TRMM shows that Favio was a well-organized storm on February 20 (top) with a central eye (dark blue area in the center) surrounded by an eyewall containing heavy rainfall (dark red areas). The storm is also very symmetric with good "banding" in the rain field, demonstrated by the tightly curved bands of moderate rain (green areas) spiraling in towards the center. These features are the hallmarks of a mature, intense tropical cyclone. Though the cyclone did not strike Madagascar, the red areas indicate that it dumped heavy rains on the southern tip of the island. As Favio crossed the Mozambique Channel it reached a peak intensity of 232 kilometers per hour (144 miles per hour, or 125 knots) on the early morning of February 22, making it a Category 4 storm. The cyclone then weakened slightly before slamming into southern Mozambique with sustained winds estimated at 204 km/hr (127 mph, 110 knots). TRMM took the lower image on February 22 soon after Favio made landfall in Mozambique. The image shows that although the eye was not as well defined as in the earlier image, the circulation is still robust, the spiral rainbands (green arcs) are still well defined. Maximum sustained winds were still estimated to be 167 km/hr (114 mph, 90 knots) at the time of this image but quickly diminished thereafter. The bands of heavy rain shown in this image triggered floods [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14146 ] along rivers in Central Mozambique. Unfortunately for Mozambique, the storm-induced floods follow additional serious flooding on the Zambezi River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14125 ] to the north. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC)., These images track Cyclone Favio as it brushed the southern tip of the island of Madagascar, and then continued on to Mozambique. The storm came ashore over southern Mozambique on February 22, 2007, as a strong Category 3 storm. As of February 28, news reports had attributed four fatalities to the storm in Vilanculos, a coastal tourist town where the storm made landfall. Favio began as a tropical disturbance on February 11, 2007, in the central Indian Ocean south of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago. Slow to intensify, the system finally became a tropical storm three days later on February 14. Favio remained a tropical storm for the next several days as it made its way through the west-central Indian Ocean east of Mauritius, and finally began to intensify as it neared Madagascar. It became a Category 1 cyclone on February 19. As it rounded the southern tip of Madagascar, Favio continued to intensify and reached Category 3 intensity on February 20. The cyclone then took a more northwesterly path as it entered the Mozambique Channel. These images of the storm were taken by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Favio |
| Description |
) satellite on February 20 and February 22, 2007. TRMM was placed into its low-earth orbit in November 1997 to measure rainfall from space, however, it has also served as a valuable platform for monitoring tropical cyclones, especially over remote parts of the open ocean. The images show the rainfall intensity. Rain rates in the center of the swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, while those in the outer portion are from the TRMM Microwave Imager. The rain rates are overlaid on infrared data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner. TRMM shows that Favio was a well-organized storm on February 20 (top) with a central eye (dark blue area in the center) surrounded by an eyewall containing heavy rainfall (dark red areas). The storm is also very symmetric with good "banding" in the rain field, demonstrated by the tightly curved bands of moderate rain (green areas) spiraling in towards the center. These features are the hallmarks of a mature, intense tropical cyclone. Though the cyclone did not strike Madagascar, the red areas indicate that it dumped heavy rains on the southern tip of the island. As Favio crossed the Mozambique Channel it reached a peak intensity of 232 kilometers per hour (144 miles per hour, or 125 knots) on the early morning of February 22, making it a Category 4 storm. The cyclone then weakened slightly before slamming into southern Mozambique with sustained winds estimated at 204 km/hr (127 mph, 110 knots). TRMM took the lower image on February 22 soon after Favio made landfall in Mozambique. The image shows that although the eye was not as well defined as in the earlier image, the circulation is still robust, the spiral rainbands (green arcs) are still well defined. Maximum sustained winds were still estimated to be 167 km/hr (114 mph, 90 knots) at the time of this image but quickly diminished thereafter. The bands of heavy rain shown in this image triggered floods [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14146 ] along rivers in Central Mozambique. Unfortunately for Mozambique, the storm-induced floods follow additional serious flooding on the Zambezi River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14125 ] to the north. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC)., These images track Cyclone Favio as it brushed the southern tip of the island of Madagascar, and then continued on to Mozambique. The storm came ashore over southern Mozambique on February 22, 2007, as a strong Category 3 storm. As of February 28, news reports had attributed four fatalities to the storm in Vilanculos, a coastal tourist town where the storm made landfall. Favio began as a tropical disturbance on February 11, 2007, in the central Indian Ocean south of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago. Slow to intensify, the system finally became a tropical storm three days later on February 14. Favio remained a tropical storm for the next several days as it made its way through the west-central Indian Ocean east of Mauritius, and finally began to intensify as it neared Madagascar. It became a Category 1 cyclone on February 19. As it rounded the southern tip of Madagascar, Favio continued to intensify and reached Category 3 intensity on February 20. The cyclone then took a more northwesterly path as it entered the Mozambique Channel. These images of the storm were taken by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Tropical Cyclone George
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone George |
| Description |
After crossing Australia's Northern Territory and triggering floods [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14159 ], Cyclone George skimmed along the Australian coast, steadily gaining power. By the time the storm took a sharp turn towards shore and headed towards Port Hedland in northern Western Australia on March 8, 2007, the cyclone packed sustained winds of 200 kilometers per hour (127 miles per hour, 110 knots), with gusts to 250 km/hr (155 mph, 135 knots). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on March 8 at 10:55 a.m. local time (1:55 UTC). Though the storm lacks a distinct eye, the dense concentration of swirling clouds attests to the storm's power. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2007067-0308/George.A2007067.0155 ] You can also download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone George KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Mar2007/George.A2007067.0155.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone George
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone George |
| Description |
Tropical Cyclone George came ashore on the remote Pilbara coast of Western Australia on the evening of March 8, 2007, as a very powerful Category 4 storm, [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] with wind speeds as high as 275 kilometers per hour (170 miles per hour). According to the online version of the Sydney Morning Herald, the storm was responsible for at least two deaths [ http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cyclone-george-kills-two-jacob-advances/2007/03/09/1173166991751.html ] and many serious injuries as of March 10. This photo-like image of George was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on March 9, 2007, at 1:25 p.m. local time (05:25 UTC). The storm was still a strong tropical cyclone with a circular shape and distinct eye at its center, despite the fact that the storm had been traveling over land for nearly a day when the image was captured. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] Cyclone George had sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) near the time this image was acquired. George was the worst storm to hit the area in 30 years, and the government declared the region a disaster area. Rescue and recovery efforts were expected to be complicated by the arrival of Cyclone Jacob. As a Category 2 storm, Jacob was smaller and weaker, and it was not expected to wreak the same kind of destruction as George. You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone George KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Mar2007/george_amo_2007068.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.gov/ ] team. |
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Tropical Cyclone Gonu
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Gonu |
| Description |
MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center., You might expect to see a storm with near-perfect symmetry and a well-defined eye hovering over the warm waters of the Caribbean or in the South Pacific, but Tropical Cyclone Gonu showed up in an unusual place. On June 4, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image, Tropical Cyclone Gonu was approaching the northeastern shore of Oman, a region better known for hot desert conditions. Though rare, cyclones like Gonu are not unheard of in the northern Indian Ocean basin. Most cyclones that form in the region form over the Bay of Bengal, east of India. Those that take shape over the Arabian Sea, west of the Indian peninsula, tend to be small and fizzle out before coming ashore. Cyclone Gonu is a rare exception. As of June 4, 2007, the powerful storm had reached a dangerous Category 4 [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] status, and it was forecast to graze Oman's northeastern shore, following the Gulf of Oman. According to storm statistics maintained on Unisys Weather, [ http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/ ] the last storm of this size to form over the Arabian Sea was Cyclone 01A, which tracked northwest along the coast of India between May 21 and May 28, 2001. Unlike Gonu's forecasted track, Cyclone 01A's path never brought it ashore. MODIS acquired this photo-like image at 12:00 p.m. local time (9:00 UTC), a few hours after the Joint Typhoon Warning Center [ https://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php ] estimated Gonu's sustained winds to be over 240 kilometers per hour (145 miles per hour). The satellite image confirms that Gonu was a super-powerful cyclone. The storm has the hallmark tightly wound arms that spiral around a well-defined, circular eye. The eye is surrounded by a clear wall of towering clouds that cast shadows on the surrounding clouds. Called hot towers, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17662 ] these clouds are a sign of the powerful uplift that feeds the storm. The symmetrical spirals, clear eye, and towering clouds are all features regularly seen in satellite images of other particularly powerful cyclones, which are also known as typhoons or hurricanes when they form in other parts of the world. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2007155-0604/Gonu.A2007155.0900 ] You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Gonu KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jun2007/Gonu.A2007155.0900.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, |
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Tropical Cyclone Gonu
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Gonu |
| Description |
At one time, Cyclone Gonu was a powerful Category 5 storm packing sustained winds of 255 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, [ https://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php ] and on a course towards Oman. This made it the most powerful cyclone ever to threaten the Arabian Peninsula since record keeping began back in 1945. Tropical cyclones do on occasion form in the Arabian Sea, but they rarely exceed tropical storm intensity. In 2006, Tropical Storm Mukda was the only system to form in the region, and it remained well out to sea before dissipating. Gonu became a tropical storm in the morning (local time) of June 2, 2007, in the east-central Arabian Sea. After some initial fluctuations in direction, the storm settled on a northwesterly track and began to intensify. Gonu went from tropical storm intensity to a Category 2 Tropical Cyclone [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] on the night of June 3. Overnight, it developed into a Category 4 storm with winds estimated at 210 km/hr (132 mph). The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], captured this image of Gonu as the storm was moving northwest over the central Arabian Sea. The image was taken at 6:23 a.m. local time (03:23 UTC) on June 4, 2007, when Gonu was a Category 4 storm. It shows the horizontal distribution of rain intensity looking down on the storm. The distribution of rain within the storm reveals the storm's structure, and in this case, Gonu displays all of the tell-tale signs of a potent storm. Not only did Gonu have a complete, well-formed, symmetrical eye surrounded by an intense eyewall (innermost red ring), this inner eyewall was surrounded by a concentric outer eyewall (outermost red and green ring). This double eyewall structure only occurs in very intense storms. Eventually the outer eyewall will contract and replace the inner eyewall, a process known as eyewall replacement. The image was made with data from several sensors on the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center of the swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, while those in the outer portion are from the TRMM Microwave Imager. The rain rates are overlaid on infrared data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner. Several hours after this image was taken, Gonu reached Category 5 intensity, the very peak of possible storm strengths. The system remained in this high state through the day, then began weakening during the night of June 4 as it continued to approach the coast of Oman. The center remained just offshore of the northeast coast of Oman as a Category 1 storm before turning northward towards Iran, where it was expected to make landfall as a tropical storm, according to forecasts made on June 6, 2007. The TRMM satellite was placed into service in November 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM provides valuable images and information on storm systems around the tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. NASA image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Tropical Cyclone Gonu
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Gonu |
| Description |
Despite weakening from a Category 5 to a Category 1 cyclone as it neared the Arabian Peninsula, Tropical Cyclone Gonu was responsible for at least 28 fatalities in the region, mostly as a result of flooding, said news reports. In Oman's capital city of Muscat, torrential rains turned streets into rivers of water in this normally arid region. In addition to the 25 confirmed fatalities in Oman, at least 26 other people were reported missing. Iran had reported 3 deaths as a result of the storm as of June 7, 2007. This visualization shows rainfall totals from May 31 through June 7, 2007, from the Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA). Although the center of Gonu never made landfall in Oman, it came very close to the northeast coastline where it dumped upwards up 200 millimeters of rain (8 inches, shown in dark red). The capital region of Muscat is on the coast where some of the heaviest rain fell. Despite further weakening as it traversed the Gulf of Oman between Oman and southern Iran, Gonu dumped substantial amounts of rain in southern Iran (broad green area) with locally heavy amounts. The mountainous terrain near the coast of Oman and Iran posed an additional hazard to coastal regions. Heavy rain falling on the steep mountains sent torrents of fast-moving floodwater down to the coastal areas. The MPA is computed at NASA Goddard Space Flight center in near-real time using data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] The TRMM satellite was placed into service in November 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM provides valuable images and information on storm systems around the tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. NASA image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Tropical Cyclone Gonu
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Gonu |
| Description |
A storm with near-perfect symmetry and a well-defined eye hovering over the warm waters of the Caribbean or in the South Pacific is not unusual, but Tropical Cyclone Gonu showed up in a rather different place: the Arabian Sea. Though rare, cyclones like Gonu are not unheard of in the northern Indian Ocean basin. Most cyclones that form in the region form over the Bay of Bengal, east of India. Those that take shape over the Arabian Sea, west of the Indian peninsula, tend to be small and fizzle out before coming ashore. Cyclone Gonu was a rare exception. According to storm statistics maintained on Unisys Weather, [ http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/ ] the last storm of this size to form over the Arabian Sea was Cyclone 01A, which tracked northwest along the coast of India between May 21 and May 28, 2001. Unlike Gonu's forecasted track, Cyclone 01A's path never brought it ashore. At 9:35 a.m. local time (06:35 UTC) on June 5, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image, Tropical Cyclone Gonu was approaching the northeastern shore of Oman. At this time, the powerful storm had reached a dangerous Category 4 [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] status. Sustained winds were measured at 250 kilometers per hour (155 miles per hour) according to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] at the time of this MODIS image. The storm has the hallmark tightly wound arms that spiral around a well-defined, circular eye. The eye is surrounded by a wall of towering clouds that cast shadows on the surrounding clouds. Called hot towers, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17662 ], these clouds are a sign of the powerful uplift that feeds the storm. The symmetrical spirals, distinct eye, and towering clouds are all features regularly seen in satellite images of other particularly powerful cyclones, which are also known as typhoons or hurricanes when they form in other parts of the world. The forecast as of June 5 called for the storm to graze Oman's shore, but with the center of the storm staying offshore in the Gulf of Oman. The storm's first landfall was predicted to be in southern Iran. The cooler water along the Oman coast was expected to rob the storm of some of its intensity, and it was predicted to strike the Iranian coast at around Category 1 strength. If, however, the forecast track is not quite right and the storm stays farther from shore over shallower and much warmer waters in the Gulf of Oman, it could make landfall while still packing Category 3 winds. In either case, communities along the Gulf of Oman are poorly prepared for hurricanes, given their rarity, and severe damage to cities and oil platforms is possible due to winds and storm surge. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2007156-0605/Gonu.A2007156.0635 ] You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Gonu KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jun2007/Gonu.A2007156.0635.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Gonu
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Tropical Cyclone Gonu |
| Description |
A cyclonic storm like Tropical Cyclone Gonu might not seem an odd sight until you consider that Gonu occurred in the Gulf of Oman and made landfall in Iran, a nation not known for cyclones. The most recent storm of Gonu's magnitude hit the neighboring Sultanate of Oman was in 1977, according to the news service AlJazerra.net [ http://english.aljazeera.net/English/ ] (English language).Given the rarity of these storms in the area, many shore facilities were never constructed to deal with the severe winds, strong rains, and high storm surge. At 12:55 p.m. local time (09:55 UTC) on June 7, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image, Tropical Cyclone Gonu was crossing the Gulf of Oman and heading northward towards the Iranian coast. By this time, the powerful storm had lost considerable power and was considered a mere powerful tropical storm. Sustained winds were measured at 60 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour) according to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center. [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] The satellite image shows Gonu bringing rain to both Oman and Iran as it heads north to the Iranian coastline. Because such storms are virtually unheard of in this part of the world, authorities have treated the storm with considerable caution: government offices in Oman and most private businesses declared a holiday from June 5 until June 9. They recommended people stay in their homes as much as possible and stock basic supplies and emergency needs, according to Middle East Online. [ http://www.middle-east-online.com ] Residents in low-lying coastal areas in southeastern Iran were also being evacuated, while the fishing fleet in neighboring Pakistan was ordered to stay in as waves battered the shores. Gonu, however, did not appear poised to reach the Straits of Hormuz, and oil shipping from the Persian Gulf had not been significantly disrupted as of June 6, according to a number of news services. You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Gonu KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jun2007/gonu_amo_2007158.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Jaya
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Tropical Cyclone Jaya |
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Tropical Cyclone Jaya came ashore in northern Madagascar in the morning of April 2, 2007 at around 11:00 a.m. local time (08:00 UTC). The storm formed in the Indian Ocean on March 30 and traveled westward toward Madagascar as predicted. What was not predicted, however, was its explosive growth in power from a strong tropical storm to a powerful Category 3 cyclone [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] in just 36 hours, according to figures provided by the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center. [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ]Fortunately, the intensification took place while Jaya was still far from Madagascar. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on April 3, 2007, at 1:15 p.m. local time (10:15 UTC). The storm was a tropical cyclone with a circular shape, but no distinct eye at its center. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] Cyclone Jaya's sustained winds had fallen in strength to roughly 125 kilometers per hour (80 mph) at the time this image was acquired. When the storm made landfall on Madagascar, sustained winds were around 150 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour), a marked change from 200 km/hr (125 mph) just twelve hours earlier. While much weakened, Jaya remained a powerful storm. Furthermore, it struck the northern part of Madagascar where a series of other cyclones have also come ashore in recent months. Forecasters were concerned that Jaya might reform after crossing the island and head inland into Mozambique, where residents are recovering from floods caused by recent heavy rains. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2007093-0403/Jaya.A2007093.1015 ] You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Jaya KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Apr2007/Jaya.A2007093.1015.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Tropical Cyclone Kara
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Tropical Cyclone Kara |
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Tropical Cyclone Kara was poised just offshore of the Pilbara coast of Western Australia on March 27, 2007. Kara was not a particularly severe storm, but was prepared to hit the same area that powerful Cyclone George [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14163 ] and Category 2 Cyclone Jacob [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14162 ] hit two weeks earlier. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on March 27, 2007, at 10:25 a.m. local time (02:25 UTC). The storm was a tropical cyclone with a circular shape and distinct eye at its center. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] Cyclone Kara had sustained winds of 145 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour) near the time this image was acquired. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2007086-0327/Kara.A2007086.0225 ] You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Kara KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Mar2007/kara_tmo_2007086.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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