GPM

Content which is affiliated solely with the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission.

Powerful Tropical Cyclone Ula Monitored By GPM

Tropical cyclone ULA's winds peaked at 115 kts (132 mph) over the weekend. These high winds meant that for a couple days ULA was a category four tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. ULA moved over the waters of the North Fiji Basin between the Fiji Islands and New Caledonia before moving southeastward into the South Fiji Basin. The GPM core observatory satellite had good looks at powerful tropical cyclone ULA during it's changes in intensity. On January 8, 2015 at 2216 UTC GPM saw that rain was falling at a rate of over 63.5 mm (2.5 inches) north of the intensifying

GPM Catches Tropical Cyclone Ula Rebounding

Tropical cyclone ULA weakened to tropical storm intensity after passing south of and then to the west of the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. ULA has now started to intensify again while moving to the southeast of New Caledonia. The GPM core observatory satellite passed above tropical cyclone ULA on January 7, 2016 at 1149 UTC when maximum sustained wind speeds were estimated at 45 kts (52 mph). Rain was measured by GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument falling at a rate of 68 mm (2.7 inches) per hour in storms on ULA's southern side. Some of these convective storms were

NASA's IMERG Looks At El Nino Storms Hitting California

Extreme rain events fueled by the current strong El Nino have started to affect California. A series of storms over the Pacific are shown transporting rain toward the west coast. This estimate of rainfall totals from December 31, 2015 to January 6, 2016 was made using data from NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG). Global precipitation estimates are provided by IMERG through the use of data from satellites in the GPM Constellation and is calibrated with measurements from the GPM Core Observatory as well as rain gauge networks around the world. The National Weather

3B4x-RT Failure and Backfilling

With the turnover of the year to 2016, the suite of 3B40RT, 3B41RT, and 3B42RT failed to process. Despite the holiday weekend, this was traced to a very old quality control on the date/time, fixed, and retrospectively processed to give a complete time series. Thanks to Erich Stocker and David Bolvin for this effort. The affected date/times are 160101 00UTC through 160102 12UTC.

GPM Sees More Powerful Tropical cyclone 06P (ULA)

The GPM core observatory satellite had an excellent daytime view of tropical cyclone 06P (ULA) on December 30, 2015 at 2358 UTC. The tropical cyclone had moved to the east-southeast of Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean with maximum sustained winds increasing to about 50 kts (58 mph). The rainfall pattern derived from GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments showed that 06P was much better organized. Powerful thunderstorms at the center of the tropical cyclone were found by DPR to be dropping rain at a rate of over 66 mm (2.6 inches) per hour. GPM's

GPM Sees Tropical Cyclone Forming

The GPM core observatory satellite passed above tropical cyclone 06P when it was forming in the south Pacific Ocean north of Samoa on December 29, 2015 at 1321 UTC. A rainfall analysis was performed using data collected at that time by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments. Data from GMI were used to calculate that rain was falling at a rate of over 83.6 mm (3.29 inches) per in a feeder band northeast of the low's center. Radar data from GPM's DPR Ku band radar were used to show the 3-D structure of precipitation within the forming tropical

Paraguay's Deadly Flooding Rainfall Measured By IMERG

Widespread flooding has recently affected tens of thousands of people in South America. Paraguay has been especially hard hit with the worst flooding in decades occurring after heavy summer rainfall. An estimated 90,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Storms and flooding caused the deaths of at least six people in Asuncion, Paraguay. The analysis above was generated using the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data product. IMERG rainfall estimates are computed in near-realtime. IMERG data indicates that over 350 mm (13.8 inches) of rain fell northeast of

NASA Looks At Deadly Weather Over the US

Heavy rainfall, flooding and tornado outbreaks affected areas of the United States from the Southwest through the Midwest from December 23-27, 2015. Tornadoes and flooding events killed at least 43 people during this period. Fourteen deaths alone occurred with tornadoes that hit Benton, Mississippi on December 23, 2015. Tornadoes are expected in the springtime but are much less frequent during this time of the year. An analysis was made of the rainfall that occurred during the period from December 21-28, 2015. This analysis used data generated by NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals

Typhoon Melor Rainfall Measured By IMERG

Since landfall typhoon Melor has destroyed thousands of homes and caused the deaths of at least six people in the Philippines. Melor had hurricane force during most of the time it spent moving through the central Philippines and weakened to tropical storm intensity only after moving into the South China west of the Luzon. Heavy rainfall from the typhoon also caused some flooding along it's path. An analysis of typhoon Melor's rainfall was made using data from NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG). Total rainfall in the area of typhoon Melor from December 12-16, 2015 is

GPM Sees Super Typhoon Melor Hitting The Philippines

Super typhoon Melor (known in the Philippines as Nona) formed east of the Philippines on December 12, 2015. Melor became more powerful and became a typhoon the next day while heading toward the Philippines. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) indicated that Melor was a super typhoon with winds of 115 kts 115 kts (133 mph) just before hitting the Philippines .The GPM core observatory satellite passed above as super typhoon Melor was impacting the Philippines on December 14, 2015 at 1006 UTC. At that time Melor still had maximum sustained winds of about 115 kts (133 mph). Rainfall derived