At 0347 UTC today the TRMM satellite flew above a dangerous typhoon in the western Pacific Ocean called Bopha that is a threat to the Philippines. Bopha is predicted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) to hit the island of Mindinao in the Philippines with winds of 135 kts (155 mph) later today. The first image shows a satellite view of typhoon Bofa with rainfall from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments overlaid on a visible/infrared image from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS). This analysis shows that Bopha had a well defined eye with very

In the United States tornadoes develop most often in the spring when warm moist unstable air accompanies strong fronts and fluctuating upper-air systems. There is a also a slight increase in tornado activity in late October and November. Tornadoes form least often in December and January so the tornadoes that occurred yesterday over the south-eastern United States were unusual. The TRMM satellite was flying over on December 10, 2012 at 1743 UTC (12:43 PM EST) and captured data showing tornado spawning thunderstorms within a frontal system moving through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia

The TRMM satellite flew above tropical storm Bofa on November 27, 2012 at 1601 UTC and collected data used in the image above. TRMM showed that tropical storm Bofa had an area of very intense convective storms near the center of circulation. TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data revealed that rain was falling at a rate of over 70mm/hr (~1.75 inches) in that area. TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) also showed that powerful storms in the area of the developing eye wall were reaching to heights of about 17km (~10.6 miles). Click here to see a simulated flyby above Bofa

Beginning this past weekend, parts of central and northern Italy received several days of heavy rain as an upper-level trough situated over western Europe down through the Iberian Peninsula in conjunction with a persistent area of low pressure at the surface over the northern coast of Africa brought a steady flow of warm, moist, unstable air northeastward across the country from the western Mediterranean. A stationary frontal boundary draped across the northern third of the Italian Peninsula provided the focus for showers and storms in that part of the country. The rains caused flooding in

(ambient audio only) On Tuesday Nov. 13, 2012, the GPM observatory moved from the clean room to the thermal vacuum chamber. The spacecraft, wrapped in protective blankets, made the short trip by crane across the testing facility where it was then lowered into the 40-foot test chamber. On Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Core Observatory began thermal vacuum testing at NASA's Goddard Space flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Thermal vacuum testing is part of GPM's environmental test program to ensure that the satellite is ready for the harsh conditions of