Hurricanes

Deadly Hurricane Otto Strikes Nicaragua and Costa rica JacobAdmin Fri, 11/25/2016
Hurricane Otto hit the southern coast of Nicaragua on November 24, 2016 at about 1800 UTC (1 PM EST). Otto had winds of about 95 kts (109 mph). The hurricane crossed into Nicaragua just north of the town of San Juan de Nicaragua that is located at 10.9 degrees North latitude. This makes Otto the southernmost land falling hurricane in Central America on record. Otto dropped flooding rainfall as is weakened and moved through northwestern Coast Rica. Otto was still a well organized tropical storm when it moved into the Eastern Pacific early on November 25, 2016. Otto's maximum sustained winds had

Hurricane Nicole Moving Over Cold North Atlantic

Hurricane Nicole has now been active for almost two weeks. Nicole was still a hurricane with winds of about 70 kts (81 mph) when the GPM core observatory satellite flew over on October 17, 2016 at 0436 UTC (2:36 am EDT). The GPM satellite had a good look at the rainfall in Nicole's large ragged eye. GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) swath sliced through the center of Nicole's eye and found some very heavy rainfall. A few strong storms in the southern side of the eye were dropping rain at a rate of over 113 mm (4.4 inches) per hour. GPM's radar (DPR KU band) data collected with

Hurricane Nicole Lashes Bermuda

While powerful Hurricane Matthew drew a lot of attention as it made its way through the northern Caribbean and the Bahamas before ravaging the US East Coast with strong winds and massive flooding, another storm was lurking nearby in the western Atlantic--Nicole. Nicole, which like Matthew, also originated from a tropical wave that made its way across the central Atlantic from the coast of Africa. Nicole first became a tropical storm on the morning of the 4th of October about 525 miles northeast of San Juan Puerto Rico just after Matthew, a powerful Category 4 storm at the time, had devastated

Deadly Hurricane Matthew's Total Rainfall

Hurricane Matthew devastated western Haiti and killed over 1,000 people. Matthew also took the lives of at least 37 deaths in the United States with 18 deaths occurring in the state of North Carolina. Flooding is still widespread in North Carolina. Some rivers in North Carolina such as the Tar and the Neuse are still rising. This rainfall analysis was accomplished using data from NASA's Integrated Multi-satelliE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG). IMERG is a unified U.S. algorithm that provides a multi-satellite precipitation product. IMERG is run twice in near-real time with the “Early” multi
Matthew Brings Heavy Rains, Destruction to Parts of the Northern Caribbean JacobAdmin Thu, 10/06/2016
Matthew began as a fairly impressive tropical wave that emerged off of the coast of Africa on the 23rd of September but had to make its way all the way across the Central Atlantic before finally organizing into a tropical storm on the morning of the 28th while passing through the Windward Islands. Matthew then slowly but steadily intensified into a minimal hurricane by the early afternoon of the following day as it continued to track westward through the central eastern Caribbean. The next day, September 30th, Matthew underwent a period of rapid intensification; its winds increased in
GPM Sees Hurricane Matthew Nearing Florida
UPDATE 10/6/16: NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Hurricane Matthew several times as the category 4 storm headed toward Florida. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. This data...

GPM Sees Hurricane Matthew Producing Dangerous Rainfall

The GPM core observatory satellite passed above hurricane Matthew on October 2, 2016 at 5:46 AM EDT (0946 UTC). GPM’s Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments collected data that were used in the rainfall map shown here. GPM found that very heavy rainfall was located around Matthew. Rain was revealed by GPM falling at a rate of over 6.4 inches (163 mm) in some areas near hurricane Matthew. Of particular interest is an area of very heavy rain located well to the east of Hurricane Matthew’s center. This blob of strong convective storms has been persistent

3D Precipitation Structure Within Hurricane Orlene Examined By GPM Satellite

Orlene, the 9th hurricane of the 2016 eastern Pacific season has weakened to a tropical storm. The GPM core observatory satellite flew over on September 15, 2016 at 1801 UTC when Orlene was still a hurricane with winds reaching about 70 kts (81 mph). Hurricane Orlene's rainfall was examined in 3-D using data collected by the GPM satellite's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR). This digital "CAT scan" like view inside hurricane Orlene shows the locations of the most intense rainfall. An area of heavy downpours was uncovered near the center of Orlene's center of circulation. Radar