Extreme Weather News

The GPM core observatory satellite flew over hurricane LANE on August 21, 2018 at 7:48 PM PST (August 22, 2018 at 0548 UTC). At that time LANE was located about 316 nautical miles (585.2 km) from Hilo, Hawaii. Hurricane LANE is one of the strongest tropical cyclones to move into the Hawaiian Islands. At the time of this GPM pass LANE was a category five on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale with winds of about 140 kts (161 mph). This analysis shows precipitation derived from data collected by the GPM satellite's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR)

The summer monsoon is a regular feature this time of year in India, and it can bring heavy rains to the region. However, periodically areas of low pressure can form within the general monsoon trough and bring even more rain. Although the extreme Himalayan topography located to the north is much more well-known, another contributing factor to the heavy rains along the southwest coast of India is the Western Ghats. Though much smaller than the Himalayas, this mountain range runs parallel to the West Coast of India with many peaks over 2,000 meters (~6,500 feet). As a result, the Western Ghats

View Fullscreen in STORM Event Viewer Direct strikes on Hawaii by tropical cyclones are relatively rare, but Hurricane Lane is poised to buck that trend if the models are to be believed. At the time of this overflight, Lane had maximum sustained winds of 130 knots and featured a symmetrical eye in the GMI data with intense precipitation rates on both east and west sides of the tight circulation. Its impacts are likely to start with flooding, especially on the island of Hawaii. High surf and strong winds will also have an impact, although the locations of maximum intensity will be determined by

View Fullscreen in STORM Event Viewer Avoiding Kyushu, Typhoon Soulik instead barrelled toward the Northern Ryukyu islands, with the 'truck-tire' eyewall impacting Amami (in the south) and Yakushima (in the north) Islands in this overflight. It featured winds approaching 100 knots as it moved northwestward. Soulik is expected to recurve toward the western coast of Korea, where it is likely to have devastating impacts to the majority of the peninsula depending on its ability to maintain intensity.

Hurricane LANE had moved westward into the central Pacific Ocean far southeast of the Hawaiian islands when the GPM core observatory satellite passed above on August 19, 2018 at 1643 UTC. LANE had intensified and had maximum sustained winds reaching about 105 kts (~ 121 mph) at that time. This made it a category three on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. The GPM satellite's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments provided highly accurate information about precipitation within the hurricane. GPM's GMI revealed rainfall coverage and GPM's radar (DPR