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Rainy Weather Over Pacific Northwest Measured From Space

Stormy weather moving in from the Pacific Ocean has frequently affected the Pacific Northwest over the past week. Moisture moving over the Washington and Oregon coasts has been transformed into snow at colder and higher elevations in the Cascades. Coincidentally a field campaign called The Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX) is being led by NASA in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State from November 2015 through February 2016. An analysis of precipitation that occurred in the Pacific Northwest during the period from January 12-19, 2016 is shown here. This precipitation analysis from

Alex Becomes the Earliest Hurricane to Form in the Atlantic Since 1938

Alex is a rare storm indeed. Alex officially became a hurricane yesterday at 11:00 am Atlantic Standard Time (AST) with maximum sustained winds estimated at 85 mph by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), making it the earliest hurricane to form in the Atlantic since 1938, when the first storm of the season became a hurricane on the 4th of January. As with Alex, that storm too originated from an extratropical low pressure center. The last hurricane to occur in January was Hurricane Alice in 1955, but Alice had already become a hurricane in the year before at the end of December and survived
Rainfall Floods the Mississippi River
A series of winter storms brought more than 20 inches of rainfall to the Midwest and southeastern United States in December 2015. Massive flooding followed throughout both the regions. An animation of rainfall data from those storms was created at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. This animation shows the accumulation of rainfall over the United Stated during December 2015, from the IMERG precipitation dataset. The black outline indicates the Mississippi-Missouri River basin. This version has been edited to only show the periods of significant rainfall during the month...

GPM Views Atlantic Low Monitored By The National Hurricane Center

A low pressure center located 1100 miles southwest of the Azores has been monitored by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) for possible development into a non-tropical or tropical storm. This low was producing winds of over 52 kts (60 mph). The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November so a tropical storm developing this early in the year would be unusual but not unprecented. The GPM core observatory satellite had an excellent daytime look at this area of disturbed weather on January 13, 2016 at 1201 UTC. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR)

GPM Spots Hurricane Pali Forming

Tropical storm Pali intensified late yesterday to become the earliest hurricane ever recorded in the Central Pacific Ocean. Warm ocean waters from El Nino supplied the extra energy needed for Pali to develop and prosper so early in the year. The GPM core observatory satellite flew over Pali on January 11, 2015 at 2121Z. GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) data sliced through Pali clearly showing that an eye had formed. GPM's DPR measured rain falling at a rate of 84.5 mm (3.3 inches) per hour on the eastern side of Pali's forming eye. GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) peered through Pali's