Extreme Weather News

Severe spring thunderstorms frequently spawned tornadoes from the Gulf Coast north and eastward during the past week. Gulf moisture clashing with frontal systems moving over the United States provided much of the fuel for intense showers and severe thunderstorms. Flash flooding was often the result of the sudden onset of extremely heavy rainfall. Over 305 mm (12 inches) of rain was reported in southern Mississippi in a few hours one morning on April 28, 2016. NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data were used to estimate the amount of rain that fell from April 22-29

As expected, tropical cyclone Fantala reversed course and moved southeastward almost directly over it's earlier track. The tropical cyclone's intensity also fluctuated. Maximum winds dropped significantly as Fantala moved southeastward but have rebounded somewhat today. The GPM core observatory satellite flew over the tropical cyclone on April 19, 2016 at 1346Z when winds had dropped to about 95 kts (109 mph). At that time GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) found that Fantala still contained extremely heavy rainfall in storms spiraling into the tropical

A slow-moving frontal system associated with a stagnant upper-air pattern set the stage for heavy rains and flooding early this week from East Texas all the way up through the Central and Northern Plains. The hardest hit region was in and around the Houston area. On Monday, the National Weather Service reported that Houston International Airport broke its all time daily rainfall record with 9.92 inches of rain. Elsewhere in Harris County, over 17 inches of rain was recorded as of Monday evening. The main culprit was a stationary upper-level low pressure center spinning over the Central Rockies

Tropical cyclone Fantala has continued to intensify while moving westward over the open waters of the South Indian Ocean. The GPM core observatory satellite passed directly over Fantala's eye on April 14, 2016 at 0148 UTC. At that time the tropical cyclone had maximum sustained winds estimated at 90 kts (104 mph) making in the equivalent of a category two tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments again captured data that were used to estimate rainfall within Fantala. Rain was measured by

A tropical cyclone called Fantala formed in the South Indian Ocean far to the east of Madagascar on on April 11, 2016. Fantala has slowly intensified while moving westward and is expected become even more powerful. The GPM core observatory satellite flew over Fantala (TC19S) on April 10, 2016 at 0206 UTC when the tropical cyclone was forming. The first image shows a rainfall analysis using data captured with by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments. GPM rainfall is shown overlaid on a 0200Z METEOSAT-7 Visible and Infrared image. Intense