Hurricanes

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

View fullscreen in STORM Event Viewer Heavy rainfall and towering cloud heights were the findings when Hurricane Lane was scanned by the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite on Aug. 17. Lane strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. GPM passed above Lane in the Eastern Pacific Ocean on Aug. 17, 2018, at 1:26 a.m. EDT (0526 UTC). Lane was intensifying and data collected by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments revealed the location of its forming eye wall. Very heavy

The GPM core observatory satellite provided very good coverage of hurricane JOHN when it passed above the eye of the tropical cyclone on August 8, 2018 at 0:59 AM MDT (0659 UTC). JOHN's maximum sustained wind speeds had started to decrease. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments showed that most of JOHN's precipitation was then located in the eastern half of the hurricane. A large cloud free area had developed between the center of the hurricane and an intense feeder band wrapping around the northern and western side of the hurricane. GPM's radar

The GPM core observatory satellite provided very good coverage of hurricane JOHN when it passed above the eye of the tropical cyclone on August 8, 2018 at 0:59 AM MDT (0659 UTC). JOHN's maximum sustained wind speeds had started to decrease. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments showed that most of JOHN's precipitation was then located in the eastern half of the hurricane. A large cloud free area had developed between the center of the hurricane and an intense feeder band wrapping around the northern and western side of the hurricane. GPM's radar

View fullscreen in STORM Event Viewer Off the southwest coast of Mexico, Hurricane Fabio has winds approaching 80 knots in this overflight, with a clear eye in the microwave and radar imagery. Fabio is expected to intensify over the next 24-48 hours, but will remain over open waters throughout its lifespan, eventually dissipating. Want to see other events in STORM Event Viewer? Have questions about the technology behind it? Contact the PPS Visualization Team The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar and GPM Microwave Imager data are products of a joint mission between NASA and JAXA. If you are

Beneficial rainfall from hurricane Bud's remnants has spread into the Desert Southwest. This rainfall may be helpful in an area that has been experiencing exceptional drought accompanied by wildfires. Bud's rainfall may also signal the beginning of the summer monsoon over the Desert Southwest. The image above shows estimates of accumulated rainfall using IMERG (Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM) data generated during the period from June 9-18, 2018. This rainfall occurred during the period when Bud formed southwest of Mexico, intensified into a powerful category four hurricane

View full-screen in STORM Event Viewer The GPM core observatory satellite passed above hurricane BUD in the eastern Pacific Ocean on June 12, 2018 at 5:27 PM MDT (2327 UTC). BUD's movement over colder waters had caused it's eye to become less defined. Data collected by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) showed that moderate to heavy precipitation was only present in the southeastern quadrant of the weakening hurricane. GPM's GMI also indicated that the heaviest rainfall in the area, of over 78 mm (3.1 inches) per hour, was occurring near Mexico's coastline well to the northeast of BUD's center of

As expected, tropical storm Aletta intensified and became a hurricane. Aletta was a powerful hurricane with winds of about 85 kts (98 mph) when the GPM core observatory satellite passed over head on June 7, 2018 at 18:38 PM MDT (June 8, 2018 at 0038 UTC). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments showed that hurricane Aletta contained powerful storms that were producing heavy precipitation. Very strong convective storms were producing heavy rainfall in Aletta's eye wall while the most extreme downpours were shown in a large feeder band wrapping

Alberto formed out of a broad area of low pressure at the surface that was located over and around the Yucatan Peninsula. Because the area of low pressure was under the influence of a nearby upper-level trough, Alberto was designated as a subtropical storm by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on the morning of Friday May 25th, which is rather unusual as most subtropical storms form at higher latitudes. The storm initially formed just east of the Yucatan Peninsula. A large subtropical ridge over the southwestern Atlantic steered Alberto on a northward track, and the storm brushed the far

The GPM core observatory passed directly above hurricane Ophelia on October 14, 2017 at 1656 UTC. Ophelia was a powerful category three on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale with sustained winds of close to 115 mph (100 kts). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments collected data showing the locations of extremely heavy rainfall with the hurricane. GPM's radar unveiled intense downpours in the northeastern side of Ophelia's eye that were dropping rain at the extreme rate of over 8.4 inches (213 mm) per hour. Other intense feeder bands with