GPM

Scattered to numerous showers and scattered thunderstorms have occurred over Hispaniola during the past week. Slow moving frontal systems draped over Hispaniola and a tropical wave recently caused heavy rainfall that led to wide spread flooding over the northern Dominican Republic. Over 20,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least five deaths have been reported. A broad area of low pressure (90L) in the southwestern Caribbean is also being monitored for possible tropical cyclone development by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Very warm sea surface temperatures and upper

Tropical cyclones have been forming frequently in the Western Pacific Ocean since July 2016. 36 named tropical cyclones have formed in the Western Pacific in less than 5 months with 14 of them becoming typhoons. Tropical Depression MA-ON Formed on November 10, 2016 northeast of Guam. MA-ON had maximum sustained winds estimated at 30 kts (34.5 mph) when the GPM core observatory satellite flew over on November 10, 2016 at 0701Z. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments showed that the tropical depression contained some very heavy showers. Strong bands

A tropical disturbance that recently formed in the Bay Of Bengal may cause heavy rainfall in the next few days along coastal India's eastern state of Odisha and southern Bangladesh. The low is predicted to move northeastward over the warm waters of the Bay Of Bengal but according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) has only a medium chance of developing into a tropical cyclone. High vertical wind shear is forecast to keep the tropical disturbance from intensifying. The GPM core observatory flew above the low on November 4, 2016 at 0026 UTC. GPM saw that the low contained some strong

Last week severe storms hit Upper Egypt and areas along the Red Sea coast on October 26 and 27, 2016. Egypt normally receives relatively little rain and the heaviest rainfall usually occurs along the Mediterranean coast. Heavy rainfall from intense storms led to flooding in parts of Egypt including the Sohag and Bani Suef in Upper Egypt, the Southern Sinai and the Red Sea. At least 26 deaths and 72 injuries were attributed to the storms. The GPM core observatory satellite routinely passes above that area with a very informative pass occurring on October 27, 2016 at 0541 UTC. Data collected by

After Haima's caused extensive destruction and at least 13 deaths in the northern Philippines the typhoon traveled across the South China Sea to batter Hong Kong and mainland China. Heavy rain and gusty winds accompanied Haima as the typhoon passed to the east of Hong Kong. Operations at Hong Kong's international airport were nearly stopped by the typhoon. At least one person was reported killed in Hong Kong. Haima made landfall in China 110 km (68 miles) east of Hong Kong at about 0400 UTC (noon CST). Haima's winds were decreasing and the typhoon was the equivalent of a category one hurricane

Two powerful typhoons have hit the Philippines in less than a week. The first was Typhoon Sarika (known as Karen in the Philippines) that formed east of the Philippines on October 12, 2016. Sarika intensified and had peak sustained winds of 115 kts (132 mph). This wind speed made it the equivalent of a category four on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Sarika made landfall in the Philippines on Sunday in the northern province of Aurora on the island of Luzon. Three people were killed as Sarika pounded the Philippines with heavy winds and flooding rainfall. After hitting the Philippines

The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite saw heavy rain with rates of around 50 mm/hr (~2 inches/hr shown in dark red) in the front that absorbed the remnants of former northwestern Pacific Ocean Typhoon Songda. These images were created from data taken on Saturday, Oct. 15 as the front was affecting the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The rain is depicted in red and green areas, indicating heavy, moderate and light rain, respectively. Images produced by Jacob Reed (Telophase/NASA GSFC) and caption by Rob Gutro (GSFC)

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

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

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