Hurricane Ian Makes Landfall in Cuba on Route to the U.S. Gulf Coast
Hurricane Ian formed in the Caribbean Sea on Sept. 26, 2022. Ian intensified to Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale by the time it made landfall in western Cuba early the next day. NASA's near real-time IMERG algorithm was used to estimate the precipitation from Ian during its formation and intensification.
IMERG precipitation accumulations for Hurricane Ian from Sept. 24 - 27, 2022, with the extent of tropical storm-force winds shown in white circles. Credits: NASA
IMERG shows that Ian's largest rainfall accumulation so far, over 12 inches, occurred while it was only a tropical storm and not yet a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center provided an estimate of the distance that tropical storm-force winds extended from Ian's low-pressure center, as shown by the white circles. The location of Ian's Cuban landfall at approximately 4:30am EDT (0830 UTC), Sept. 27, is marked with a white dot.
Credits:
Image & text by Owen Kelley (NASA GSFC / PPS)