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Tropical Cyclone of Mozambique and Mozambique Channel
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Tropical Cyclone 08S
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Tropical Cyclone 08S |
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Packing sustained winds of 64 km (40 miles) per hour, and gusts of up to 85 km (53 miles) per hour, Tropical Cyclone 08S formed today in the Mozambique Channel and is moving westward directly toward Mozambique?s east coast. The storm is predicted to intensify before it makes landfall early on Jan. 1, 2003 (local time). This true-color image of Cyclone 08S was acquired on Dec. 31, 2002, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard the Terra satellite. Image courtesy Jeffrey Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC |
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse |
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse was winding down on February 5, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image at 10:45 UTC (1:45 p.m. local time). At this time, Boloetse was heading into the southern Indian Ocean after brushing against the southern end of Madagascar. The cyclone had sustained winds of around 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), classifying it as a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. This was less intense than the previous day [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13350 ], and forecasters were predicting the storm would continue to diminish in strength as it traveled southeast away from the African coast. Tropical Cyclone Boloetse initially formed in the western Indian Ocean and traveled west, crossing the island of Madagascar as a tropical storm in late January 2006, with moderately strong rains. The storm intensity declined to tropical-depression strength as it crossed the mountainous ridgeline that runs along the eastern shore of Madagascar. However, once the storm system reached the warm waters of the Mozambique Channel, the tropical depression re-organized and built up enough strength to become a tropical cyclone. Once there, the storm reversed direction and headed southeast, taking it across Madagascar once again. It struck a glancing blow over the island's southern tip on February 4, 2006. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse |
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse crossed the island of Madagascar as a tropical storm in late January 2006, with moderately strong rains. The storm intensity declined to tropical-depression strength as it crossed the mountainous ridgeline that runs along the eastern shore of Madagascar. However, once the storm system reached the warm waters of the Mozambique Channel, the tropical depression reorganized and built up enough strength to become a tropical cyclone. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite observed Tropical Cyclone Boloetse in the Mozambique Channel on February 3, 2006, at 11:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. local time). At that time, the cyclone was beginning a south and eastward track, and it was predicted to strike a glancing blow along the southwestern corner of Madagascar as it moved back out into the Indian Ocean. The cyclone had sustained winds of around 165 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour), classifying it as a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Storms of this strength typically cause moderate damage to coastal areas with storm surges around 1.5 to 2 meters (4 to 7 feet). Winds are sufficient to damage temporary structures such as trailers and sheds, and remove roofs from some permanent buildings. The large version of the image has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Other resolutions are also available from the MODIS Rapid Response website. NASA image created by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse
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Tropical Cyclone Boloetse |
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Cyclone Boloetse was striking Madagascar for the second time when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired this photo-like image on February 4, 2006, at 07:20 UTC (10:20 a.m. local time). At this time, the cyclone had sustained winds of around 165 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour), classifying it as a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Tropical Cyclone Boloetse first crossed the island of Madagascar as a tropical storm in late January 2006, with moderately strong rains. The storm intensity declined to tropical-depression strength as it crossed the mountainous ridgeline that runs along the eastern shore of Madagascar. When the storm system reached the warm waters of the Mozambique Channel, the tropical depression re-organized and built up enough strength to become a tropical cyclone. Next, the storm reversed direction and headed southeast, taking it across Madagascar once again. It gave a glancing blow over the island's southern tip on February 4, 2006. The large version of the image has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Other resolutions are also available from the MODIS Rapid Response website. NASA image created by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Tropical Cyclone Bondo
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Tropical Cyclone Bondo |
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Tropical Cyclone Bondo spent the days before Christmas in the Seychelles north of Madagascar, whipping those islands with powerful Category 2-strength [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] winds. The storm then turned south and grazed along the northwestern coast Madagascar on December 24, while building strength to Category 4, according to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System. [ http://www.gdacs.org/ ] The cyclone then came ashore at the north end of Madagascar on December 25, where more than 4.5 million people lived within 200 kilometers of the storm. 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 December 25, 2006, at 9:55 a.m. local time (6:55 UTC), while the storm's center was coming ashore. Bondo had well-defined spiral arms of rain clouds and thunderstorms at the time of this image, and a distinct, cloud-filled (or "closed") eye at its center. It was not as strong a storm as it had been the previous day, however, as coming ashore robbed it of the source of its power—the warm waters of the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and mainland Africa. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] peak winds had fallen to around 110 kilometers per hour (70 miles per hour), still quite potentially destructive. NASA image by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, 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 Elita (09S)
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Tropical Cyclone Elita (09S) |
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Tropical cyclone Elita (9S) formed just off the west coast of the island of Madagascar in the Mozambique Channel on 26 January 2004 as a minimal tropical storm with winds estimated at around 40 mph by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Elita then slowly meandered towards the northeast along the coastline of Madagascar before turning southeast and coming ashore on the 29th near the coastal town of Mahajanga on the northwestern coast of Madagascar. One person was reported killed by the storm and numerous houses and buildings were destroyed in the town. The first image was captured by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite and shows Elita just off the northwest coast of Madagascar. The image was taken at 3:42 UTC on 28 January 2004. At the time of the image, Elita's strength was still only estimated to be near 40 mph though the next advisory later on the 28th put the maximum estimated sustained winds to be near 70 mph. The image shows the horizontal distribution of rain rates as seen from above by the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), the first precipitation radar in space, while rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM shows that Elita is not well organized having an open eye structure with the heaviest rain rates of 2 inches per hour (dark red areas) occurring in a rainband away from the center. Still there are ample areas of moderate rainfall associated with Elita (green areas) with embedded areas of heavier rain (smaller orange areas) to generate substantial amounts of rainfall especially when combined with the slow forward speed of the storm. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global tropics. The second image shows MPA rainfall totals for the period 23-29 January, 2004. It reveals that coastal areas of northwestern Madagascar may have received upwards of 2 feet of rain (dark red areas) as a result of Elita. These copious rain totals extend all the way across the Mozambique Channel to the eastern coastline of Mozambique. Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Tropical Cyclone Elita (09S)
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Tropical Cyclone Elita (09S) |
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Tropical cyclone Elita (9S) formed just off the west coast of the island of Madagascar in the Mozambique Channel on 26 January 2004 as a minimal tropical storm with winds estimated at around 40 mph by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Elita then slowly meandered towards the northeast along the coastline of Madagascar before turning southeast and coming ashore on the 29th near the coastal town of Mahajanga on the northwestern coast of Madagascar. One person was reported killed by the storm and numerous houses and buildings were destroyed in the town. The first image was captured by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite and shows Elita just off the northwest coast of Madagascar. The image was taken at 3:42 UTC on 28 January 2004. At the time of the image, Elita's strength was still only estimated to be near 40 mph though the next advisory later on the 28th put the maximum estimated sustained winds to be near 70 mph. The image shows the horizontal distribution of rain rates as seen from above by the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), the first precipitation radar in space, while rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM shows that Elita is not well organized having an open eye structure with the heaviest rain rates of 2 inches per hour (dark red areas) occurring in a rainband away from the center. Still there are ample areas of moderate rainfall associated with Elita (green areas) with embedded areas of heavier rain (smaller orange areas) to generate substantial amounts of rainfall especially when combined with the slow forward speed of the storm. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global tropics. The second image shows MPA rainfall totals for the period 23-29 January, 2004. It reveals that coastal areas of northwestern Madagascar may have received upwards of 2 feet of rain (dark red areas) as a result of Elita. These copious rain totals extend all the way across the Mozambique Channel to the eastern coastline of Mozambique. Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Tropical Cyclone Elita (09S)
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Tropical Cyclone Elita (09S) |
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Having formed just off the west coast of the island of Madagascar on the 26th of January 2004, Tropical cyclone Elita (9S) then came ashore on the 29th near the coastal town of Mahajanga on the northwest coast. Elita then moved southwest parallel to the coast line before drifting back out over the Mozambique Channel on the 1st of February. Elita strengthened into a minimal category 1 cyclone with winds estimated at 75 mph by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center on the 2nd. The system then came ashore again on the western coastline of Madagascar near the town of Morondava before moving southeast across the island on the 3rd and exiting on the east coast. Four more people were reported killed as a result of Elita coming ashore for the second time and many thousands were reported to be left homeless. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured this image of Elita just after it had made landfall for the second time. The image was taken at 1:33 UTC on 3 February 2004. Rain rates are shown in the center swath from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), the first radar of its kind in space, while rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM reveals that the rainfall pattern around Elita is very asymmetrical. Almost all of the rain close to the center is on the right-hand side. Only a very localized area of intense rain is observed near the center (small red spot) with most of the rain being moderate (green) to light (blue) in intensity. There is still good banding evident in the rain field associated with the storm's circulation. Heavy rain rates (darker reds) are present in an outer rainband to the north. The second image is a vertical slice as seen from the west through the storm showing the location of the heavier rain rates (darker reds) near the center and in the outer rainbands. The fact that Elita hovered for many days near the same area resulted in copious amounts of rainfall. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi- satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global tropics. The last image shows MPA rainfall totals for the period 27 January to 3 February, 2004. It shows areas of rainfall exceeding 20 inches (darker reds) for the period all along the western coastline of Madagascar that also extend across the Mozambique Channel to the east coast of Mozambique. 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). |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
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Tropical Cyclone Favio |
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Cyclone Favio was closing the gap between Madagascar and mainland Africa on February 21, 2007, preparing to strike Mozambique in coming days. 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), which made it a Category 3 storm. 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 ] This data visualization shows Cyclone Favio in the middle of the Mozambique Channel between the island of Madagascar and Africa. The data were obtained by NASA's QuikSCAT [ http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/index.cfm ], satellite on February 21, 2007, at 6:38 a.m. local time (3:38 UTC). The image depicts wind speed in color and wind direction with small barbs. White barbs point to areas of heavy rain. Favio appears as a well-formed spiral of winds centered around a strong eye where winds were calmer. This pattern is typical of tropical cyclones. Since the storm is in the Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolos force, which gives all hurricanes and cyclones their spin, turns the storm clockwise, the opposite direction to hurricanes and typhoons which form in the Northern Hemisphere. Measurements of the actual wind strength of cyclones are often higher than those measured by QuikSCAT. QuikSCAT employs a scatterometer, which sends pulses of microwave energy through the atmosphere to the ocean surface, and measures the energy that bounces back from the wind-roughened surface. The energy of the microwave pulses changes depending on wind speed and direction, giving scientists a way to monitor wind around the world. This technique does not work over land, but allows measurements in storms over oceans. Tropical cyclones, however, are difficult to measure. To relate the radar energy returned to the sensor to actual wind speed, scientists compare measurements taken from buoys and other ground stations to data the satellite acquired at the same time and place. Because the high wind speeds generated by cyclones are rare, scientists do not have corresponding ground information to know how to translate data from the satellite for wind speeds above 50 knots (about 93 km/hr or 58 mph). Also, the unusually heavy rain found in a cyclone distorts the microwave pulses in a number of ways, making a conversion to accurate wind speed difficult. Instead, the scatterometer provides a nice picture of the relative wind speeds within the storm and shows wind direction. NASA image courtesy of David Long, Brigham Young University, on the QuikSCAT Science Team [ http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/ ], and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. |
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Tropical Cyclone Favio
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Tropical Cyclone Favio |
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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
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Tropical Cyclone Favio |
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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
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Tropical Cyclone Favio |
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) 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
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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 Gafilo
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Tropical Cyclone Gafilo |
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Gafilo struck the northeast coast of Madagascar early on the morning of the 7th of March 2004 (LST) as a very powerful Category 5 cyclone with winds estimated at 160 mph. So far, at least 25 people have been reported dead on Madagascar not counting a further 111 feared drowned on a ferry that was lost in the storm and reported to have capsized in heavy seas by two survivors. After making landfall on the northeast coast, Gafilo cut across the northern part of the island moving southwest leaving as many as 100,000 people homeless in its wake before re-emerging over the waters of the Mozambique Channel on March 8th. Out over the channel, Gafilo recurved heading southeast. It briefly regaining Category 1 strength over open waters. The storm then made landfall again on the night of the 9th along the southwest coast of Madagascar and crossed the island yet again, this time over the southern part of the island. Gafilo is finally forecast to exit the southeast coastline of Madagascar on the evening of the 11th and head back out into the western Indian ocean as a weak tropical storm. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global tropics. MPA rainfall totals are shown for the period 3-10 March 2004 for the area over and around Madagascar. Cyclone symbols mark the 06Z positions of Gafilo along its path. As the storm approaches Madagascar from the east, the heaviest rainfall totals, on the order of 12 inches (orange-red areas), appear close to the center of the storm track. As the systems crosses land, the higher totals appear to the right of the storm track and are on the order of 15 inches of rain (red area) over the northern tip of Madagascar. The heaviest totals of up to 20 inches (darkest reds) stretch from the central Mozambique Channel eastward to along the northwest coastline of Madagascar. These totals appear to be associated with an intense, east-west oriented rainband that was observed by TRMM on March 8 (see the previous story on Gafilo) well north of the storm's center. Rainfall totals are significantly less though still on the order of 4 to 8 inches (green areas) over southern and central Madagascar. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Tropical Cyclone Gafilo
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Tropical Cyclone Gafilo |
| Description |
Gafilo struck the northeast coast of Madagascar early on the morning of the 7th of March 2004 (LST) as a very powerful Category 5 cyclone with winds estimated at 160 mph. So far, at least 25 people have been reported dead on Madagascar not counting a further 111 feared drowned on a ferry that was lost in the storm and reported to have capsized in heavy seas by two survivors. After making landfall on the northeast coast, Gafilo cut across the northern part of the island moving southwest leaving as many as 100,000 people homeless in its wake before re-emerging over the waters of the Mozambique Channel on March 8th. Out over the channel, Gafilo recurved heading southeast. It briefly regaining Category 1 strength over open waters. The storm then made landfall again on the night of the 9th along the southwest coast of Madagascar and crossed the island yet again, this time over the southern part of the island. Gafilo is finally forecast to exit the southeast coastline of Madagascar on the evening of the 11th and head back out into the western Indian ocean as a weak tropical storm. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global tropics. MPA rainfall totals are shown for the period 3-10 March 2004 for the area over and around Madagascar. Cyclone symbols mark the 06Z positions of Gafilo along its path. As the storm approaches Madagascar from the east, the heaviest rainfall totals, on the order of 12 inches (orange-red areas), appear close to the center of the storm track. As the systems crosses land, the higher totals appear to the right of the storm track and are on the order of 15 inches of rain (red area) over the northern tip of Madagascar. The heaviest totals of up to 20 inches (darkest reds) stretch from the central Mozambique Channel eastward to along the northwest coastline of Madagascar. These totals appear to be associated with an intense, east-west oriented rainband that was observed by TRMM on March 8 (see the previous story on Gafilo) well north of the storm's center. Rainfall totals are significantly less though still on the order of 4 to 8 inches (green areas) over southern and central Madagascar. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Tropical Cyclone Gafilo
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Gafilo |
| Description |
The island of Madagascar, which was hit by Cyclone Elita back on the 29th of January, recently suffered a direct hit from Gafilo, a far more powerful storm rated as an intense Category 5 Cyclone at the time it made landfall on the island's northeast coastline. So far Gafilo has left 7 dead, 18 missing and up to 100,000 homeless on Madagascar. Gafilo began as a tropical depression back on the 29th of February 2004 in the central Indian Ocean south of Deigo Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago. Two days later on the 2nd of March, it became a tropical storm and continued moving west. Gafilo strengthened into a Category 1 cyclone the next day on the 3rd, and March 4th saw Gafilo continuing to intensify with winds increasing to 85 knots (98 mph) as estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. On the 5th, Gafilo began a cycle of rapid deepening with winds increasing to 125 knots (144 mph) making it a major Category 4 cyclone. It was now moving west-southwest headed straight for Madagascar. The next day, on the 6th of March 2004, Gafilo struck the northeast coast of Madagascar near to the town of Antalaha as a Category 5 cyclone, the highest possible rating, its sustained winds having further increased to an estimated 140 knots (161 mph). Ninety-five percent of Antalaha was reported destroyed. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured numerous, impressive images of Cyclone Gafilo covering most of it's life cycle as it traversed the western Indian Ocean. The first image (top left) was taken at 8:15 UTC on 4 March 2004. It shows the horizontal distribution of rain rates as seen from above by the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), the first and only precipitation radar in space, and rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). In this first image, TRMM shows Gafilo to have a large, closed eye but only weak (blues) to moderate (green areas) rain rates immediately surround the center. A large rainband with some embedded heavier convection (darker red areas) wraps in towards the eye from the storm's northwest quadrant. At the time, Gafilo was already rated a Category 1 cyclone with winds estimated at 65 knots (75 mph). The next image (top right) taken at 17:10 UTC on March 5 reveals a very different looking Gafilo. The eye has become smaller, and the surrounding eyewall is now composed almost entirely of heavy (reds) to intense (darker reds) rain rates of up to 2-inches per hour. Tropical cyclones act like large heat engines. Their fuel comes from the transformation of water vapor in the atmosphere. As water vapor condenses into the tiny cloud droplets that eventually form the precipitation, heat is released. This heat, known as latent heat, is what drives the storm's circulation. In general, the more heating that occurs, the more intense the storm will, become. This heating is most effective in driving the storm if it is occurs near its center as TRMM shows is the case shown here with Gafilo. At this time, Gafilo was a powerful Category 4 storm with winds estimated at 125 knots (144 mph). The third (bottom left) image was taken at 8:02 UTC March 6th as Gafilo was approaching the coast of Madagascar and shows a tropical cyclone at its most mature, intense stage. The storm now has a very tight, very small eye with a nearly perfectly symmetrical eyewall containing a near-uniform concentric ring of intense rain rates (dark reds). The storm is now at Category 5, and the winds are at 140 knots (161 mph). The final image (bottom right) shows Gafilo in the Mozambique Channel after the storm had crossed the entire northern half of Madagascar. Taken at 7:47 UTC on the 8th, with the circulation having been disrupted by land and topography and its supply of water vapor essentially cutoff, the eye is now totally gone with no visible eyewall present. A large rainband with a broad area of intense (dark reds) to moderate (green areas) rain remains, extending from the central part of the Mozambique Channel eastward into western Madagascar north of the storm's center. Gafilo had now been downgraded to a tropical storm with remaining winds estimated at 55 knots (63 mph). 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). |
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Tropical Cyclone Gafilo
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Gafilo |
| Description |
The island of Madagascar, which was hit by Cyclone Elita back on the 29th of January, recently suffered a direct hit from Gafilo, a far more powerful storm rated as an intense Category 5 Cyclone at the time it made landfall on the island's northeast coastline. So far Gafilo has left 7 dead, 18 missing and up to 100,000 homeless on Madagascar. Gafilo began as a tropical depression back on the 29th of February 2004 in the central Indian Ocean south of Deigo Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago. Two days later on the 2nd of March, it became a tropical storm and continued moving west. Gafilo strengthened into a Category 1 cyclone the next day on the 3rd, and March 4th saw Gafilo continuing to intensify with winds increasing to 85 knots (98 mph) as estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. On the 5th, Gafilo began a cycle of rapid deepening with winds increasing to 125 knots (144 mph) making it a major Category 4 cyclone. It was now moving west-southwest headed straight for Madagascar. The next day, on the 6th of March 2004, Gafilo struck the northeast coast of Madagascar near to the town of Antalaha as a Category 5 cyclone, the highest possible rating, its sustained winds having further increased to an estimated 140 knots (161 mph). Ninety-five percent of Antalaha was reported destroyed. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured numerous, impressive images of Cyclone Gafilo covering most of it's life cycle as it traversed the western Indian Ocean. The first image (top left) was taken at 8:15 UTC on 4 March 2004. It shows the horizontal distribution of rain rates as seen from above by the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), the first and only precipitation radar in space, and rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). In this first image, TRMM shows Gafilo to have a large, closed eye but only weak (blues) to moderate (green areas) rain rates immediately surround the center. A large rainband with some embedded heavier convection (darker red areas) wraps in towards the eye from the storm's northwest quadrant. At the time, Gafilo was already rated a Category 1 cyclone with winds estimated at 65 knots (75 mph). The next image (top right) taken at 17:10 UTC on March 5 reveals a very different looking Gafilo. The eye has become smaller, and the surrounding eyewall is now composed almost entirely of heavy (reds) to intense (darker reds) rain rates of up to 2-inches per hour. Tropical cyclones act like large heat engines. Their fuel comes from the transformation of water vapor in the atmosphere. As water vapor condenses into the tiny cloud droplets that eventually form the precipitation, heat is released. This heat, known as latent heat, is what drives the storm's circulation. In general, the more heating that occurs, the more intense the storm will, become. This heating is most effective in driving the storm if it is occurs near its center as TRMM shows is the case shown here with Gafilo. At this time, Gafilo was a powerful Category 4 storm with winds estimated at 125 knots (144 mph). The third (bottom left) image was taken at 8:02 UTC March 6th as Gafilo was approaching the coast of Madagascar and shows a tropical cyclone at its most mature, intense stage. The storm now has a very tight, very small eye with a nearly perfectly symmetrical eyewall containing a near-uniform concentric ring of intense rain rates (dark reds). The storm is now at Category 5, and the winds are at 140 knots (161 mph). The final image (bottom right) shows Gafilo in the Mozambique Channel after the storm had crossed the entire northern half of Madagascar. Taken at 7:47 UTC on the 8th, with the circulation having been disrupted by land and topography and its supply of water vapor essentially cutoff, the eye is now totally gone with no visible eyewall present. A large rainband with a broad area of intense (dark reds) to moderate (green areas) rain remains, extending from the central part of the Mozambique Channel eastward into western Madagascar north of the storm's center. Gafilo had now been downgraded to a tropical storm with remaining winds estimated at 55 knots (63 mph). 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). |
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Tropical Cyclone Gafilo
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Gafilo |
| Description |
The island of Madagascar, which was hit by Cyclone Elita back on the 29th of January, recently suffered a direct hit from Gafilo, a far more powerful storm rated as an intense Category 5 Cyclone at the time it made landfall on the island's northeast coastline. So far Gafilo has left 7 dead, 18 missing and up to 100,000 homeless on Madagascar. Gafilo began as a tropical depression back on the 29th of February 2004 in the central Indian Ocean south of Deigo Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago. Two days later on the 2nd of March, it became a tropical storm and continued moving west. Gafilo strengthened into a Category 1 cyclone the next day on the 3rd, and March 4th saw Gafilo continuing to intensify with winds increasing to 85 knots (98 mph) as estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. On the 5th, Gafilo began a cycle of rapid deepening with winds increasing to 125 knots (144 mph) making it a major Category 4 cyclone. It was now moving west-southwest headed straight for Madagascar. The next day, on the 6th of March 2004, Gafilo struck the northeast coast of Madagascar near to the town of Antalaha as a Category 5 cyclone, the highest possible rating, its sustained winds having further increased to an estimated 140 knots (161 mph). Ninety-five percent of Antalaha was reported destroyed. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured numerous, impressive images of Cyclone Gafilo covering most of it's life cycle as it traversed the western Indian Ocean. The first image (top left) was taken at 8:15 UTC on 4 March 2004. It shows the horizontal distribution of rain rates as seen from above by the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), the first and only precipitation radar in space, and rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). In this first image, TRMM shows Gafilo to have a large, closed eye but only weak (blues) to moderate (green areas) rain rates immediately surround the center. A large rainband with some embedded heavier convection (darker red areas) wraps in towards the eye from the storm's northwest quadrant. At the time, Gafilo was already rated a Category 1 cyclone with winds estimated at 65 knots (75 mph). The next image (top right) taken at 17:10 UTC on March 5 reveals a very different looking Gafilo. The eye has become smaller, and the surrounding eyewall is now composed almost entirely of heavy (reds) to intense (darker reds) rain rates of up to 2-inches per hour. Tropical cyclones act like large heat engines. Their fuel comes from the transformation of water vapor in the atmosphere. As water vapor condenses into the tiny cloud droplets that eventually form the precipitation, heat is released. This heat, known as latent heat, is what drives the storm's circulation. In general, the more heating that occurs, the more intense the storm will, become. This heating is most effective in driving the storm if it is occurs near its center as TRMM shows is the case shown here with Gafilo. At this time, Gafilo was a powerful Category 4 storm with winds estimated at 125 knots (144 mph). The third (bottom left) image was taken at 8:02 UTC March 6th as Gafilo was approaching the coast of Madagascar and shows a tropical cyclone at its most mature, intense stage. The storm now has a very tight, very small eye with a nearly perfectly symmetrical eyewall containing a near-uniform concentric ring of intense rain rates (dark reds). The storm is now at Category 5, and the winds are at 140 knots (161 mph). The final image (bottom right) shows Gafilo in the Mozambique Channel after the storm had crossed the entire northern half of Madagascar. Taken at 7:47 UTC on the 8th, with the circulation having been disrupted by land and topography and its supply of water vapor essentially cutoff, the eye is now totally gone with no visible eyewall present. A large rainband with a broad area of intense (dark reds) to moderate (green areas) rain remains, extending from the central part of the Mozambique Channel eastward into western Madagascar north of the storm's center. Gafilo had now been downgraded to a tropical storm with remaining winds estimated at 55 knots (63 mph). 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). |
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