Extreme Weather

A new tropical cyclone may affect Madagascar in a few days. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) has been keeping an eye on an area of convection in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar. A circulation center has already been observed. Environmental conditions are favorable for the birth of a tropical cyclone in that area with the presence of low vertical wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures. Tropical cyclone AVA caused many deaths in January when it's heavy rains caused extensive flooding in Madagascar. Tropical cyclone DUMAZILE also caused extensive flooding less than two weeks

The GPM Core Observatory satellite flew over a powerful winter storm early on the morning of Tuesday March 13th, 2018, the third such "Nor'easter" to hit the U.S. east coast this year. GPM's Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar took 3D measurements as it flew over the storm, which show the boundary between liquid (green / yellow / red) and frozen (blue) precipitation. The storm is expected to last through most of Tuesday, disrupting road and air travel. Image and caption by Jacob Reed (Telophase / NASA GSFC

The GPM core observatory satellite had a fairly good look at powerful tropical cyclone HOLA on March 8, 2018 at 0812 UTC. HOLA was located northeast of New Caledonia with maximum sustained winds of about 95 kts (~ 105 mph). The rainfall in this image was derived from data received by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments. GPM's GMI provided the best coverage of the tropical cyclone. GMI data indicated that storms within HOLA were dropping rain at a rate of greater than 49 mm (1.9 inches) per hour in the southeast quadrant of the tropical cyclone

On March 6, 2018 at 0825 UTC the GPM core observatory satellite flew above a forming tropical cyclone in the southern Pacific Ocean just east of Vanuatu. GPM's Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) scanned storms in the center of forming tropical cyclone 12P's circulation. This view by GPM's DPR revealed that convective storms were dropping extremely heavy rainfall on the eastern edge of the forming tropical cyclone's low level center. DPR indicated that rain was falling at a rate of over 241 mm (9.5 inches) per hour in this area. The use of GPM satellite's radar data enabled this 3-D view

Tropical cyclone DUMAZILE formed east of Madagascar on March 3, 2018. Since then the tropical cyclone has been causing flooding as the tropical cyclone moves parallel to Madagascar's eastern coast. The clockwise rotation of the tropical cyclone has been transporting bands of rain onto Madagascar. Over 210 mm (8.3 inches) of precipitation was reported along the northeastern coast of Madagascar. The GPM core observatory satellite passed over eastern Madagascar on March 3, 2018 at 1710Z. Tropical cyclone DUMAZILE was located in the Indian Ocean east of northeastern Madagascar. The tropical

Early in the morning of March 2nd 2018 the GPM satellite flew over the "Nor'easter" winter storm that is battering the eastern U.S. with damaging winds, rain, snow, and hail. View this data in STORM Event Viewer: https://pmm.nasa.gov/storm-viewer/EVMicro.html?storm=Riley&date=20180302 Images and caption by Jacob Reed (Telophase / NASA GSFC)

Today NOAA's National Weather Service has issued flood advisories and flood warnings for large areas of Arkansas and Tennessee. Large parts of the Ohio Valley and Mississippi valley have received flooding rainfall during the past week. Arkansas has seen more rain than any other state. Life threatening flood conditions have resulted from over 10 inches of rain falling in extensive areas of central Arkansas. The GPM core observatory satellite had an excellent view of the storms that were producing flooding rainfall in Arkansas when it flew above the state on Wednesday February 28, 2018 at 11:15

The GPM core observatory satellite flew over stormy weather in the Midwest on Saturday February 24, 2018 at 1610 UTC (10:10 AM CST). Floods and very severe thunderstorms were developing with this slow moving storm complex. Later in the day tornadoes within these storms caused destruction and injuries in the states of Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee. Tornadoes and flooding were blamed for at least four fatalities. Kentucky was particularly hard hit with Saturday evening tornadoes moving through southwestern Kentucky causing multiple injuries and at least three deaths. GPM's microwave

Tropical Cyclone Kelvin struck Northwestern Australia with winds reaching 54 knots as it crossed the Kimberley Coast. It brought flooding rains and damaging winds to the settlements and mining companies of the region. The storm intrigued meteorologists as it only developed a cloudless eye after making landfall, believed in part due to the heat flux generated by the warm desert the storm traveled over. View this visualization in full screen using STORM Event Viewer

As predicted, the remnants of tropical cyclone GITA hit New Zealand on Tuesday (local time). GITA had transitioned to an extra-tropical low and was much weaker than when it hit Tonga last week. It still contained strong tropical strong force winds with occasionally heavy rainfall. New Zealand's South Island was the hardest hit. The northern end of of the South Island was in the right front quadrant of the tropical cyclone where the wind speeds around the center of circulation were increased by the low's speed of movement. Torrential rainfall led to flooding and landslides on the South Island