GPM Examines Tropical Cyclone Chapala

Tropical Cyclone Chapala developed in the very warm waters of the Arabian Sea west of India on October 28, 2015. These images show rainfall derived from data collected by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments. The GPM core observatory satellite had good views of the tropical cyclone on October 29, 2015 at 0332 and 1456 UTC. GPM's rainfall from the first pass show that Chapala was close to hurricane intensity with the location of a developing eye clearly shown by GMI. By the second pass Chapala's maximum sustained winds were estimated at 65 kts

Patricia Remnants Combine With Storm System Over Texas

Patricia, the most powerful hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere, quickly lost power as it moved over Mexico. Then an upper-level low pressure system and the remnants of hurricane Patricia combined to cause very heavy rain in Texas. On Sunday October 25, 2015 eastern Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi were also warned of flooding as extreme rainfall moved eastward along the Gulf Coast.

Weakening Tropical Storm Olaf Examined By GPM

After maintaining hurricane intensity for over a week former category four hurricane Olaf is now a weakening tropical storm. The GPM core observatory satellite flew above Olaf on October 26, 2015 at 0510Z. Rainfall derived from data collected by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments is shown here. Olaf had moved over cooler waters that were sapping the tropical cyclone's energy. GPM's GMI found that storms located in a small area within Olaf were still dropping rain at a rate of over 65 mm (2.6 inches) per hour. GPM's radar (DPR Ku band) sliced

GPM Sees Patricia Becoming A Hurricane

During the night tropical storm Patricia became much better organized and was upgraded to a hurricane. The GPM core observatory satellite flew above the intensifying tropical cyclone on October 22, 2015 at 0401 UTC. Patricia was still a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds estimated at 55 kts (63 mph) at that time but rainfall derived from GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments showed that an eye was forming. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) 0400 AM CTD discussion said that, "... 37 GHz GPM image showed a cyan ring around the eye, which

Tropical Storm Patricia Forms Off Mexican Coast

Tropical Depression Twenty-E (TD20E) formed on October 20, 2015 off the Mexican coast southeast of Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Later that evening TD20E was upgraded to tropical storm Patricia. On October 21, 2015 at 1634 UTC (11:34 AM CDT) the GPM core observatory satellite flew over tropical storm Patricia. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) instrument had good coverage of the rainfall associated with the tropical storm. Rainfall data derived from GMI are shown overlaid on a GOES-EAST Visible/Infrared image captured at 1645 UTC (11:45 AM CDT). GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument