Extreme Weather

On May 10, 2017 rapidly dissipating tropical Cyclone Donna moved to the southeast of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. In addition to being the most powerful out-of-season tropical cyclone ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, Donna also dropped extreme amounts of rainfall along it's path. Donna spread heavy rainfall along it's path from northern Vanuatu through the Loyalty Islands east of New Caledonia. Over 250mm (~10 inches) of rainfall was reported in the islands of northern Vanuatu as Donna was moving through on May 5, 2017. This rainfall analysis was constructed using data from

The GPM core observatory satellite flew over intensifying tropical cyclone Ella in the South Pacific on May 10, 2017 at 2301 UTC. The satellite's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments showed bands of curved rainfall bands wrapping into the center of a well defined center of circulation. GPM's DPR measured rain falling at a rate of over 231 mm (9.1 inches) per hour in an intense feeder band on Ella's eastern side. This 3-D view of tropical cyclone Ella was produced using GPM radar reflectivity data (DPR Ku Band). DPR showed that the highest storm tops

The above window displays an interactive visualization of GPM data collected from Tropical Cyclone Donna on 5/7/17. Over the weekend tropical cyclone Donna dropped very heavy rain over Vanuatu as it moved toward the west of the islands. Donna had intensified and had maximum sustained winds of 115 kts (132 mph) on Monday morning. This made it the equivalent of a category four on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. The GPM core observatory satellite had two excellent views of the intensifying tropical cyclone Donna on succeeding days. When GPM flew over Donna on May 6, 2017 at 0146 UTC the

Tropical Cyclone Donna formed in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of Vanuatu On May 2, 2017 at 1800 UTC. A few hours earlier at 1521 UTC the GPM core observatory satellite passed above that area. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) instrument provided a clear view of the rainfall associated with the forming tropical cyclone. GMI revealed that an intense rain band was wrapping into the center of the forming tropical cyclone from the northern side. GMI data indicated that precipitation in one of these intense rain bands was falling at a rate of over 53 mm (~2 inches) per hour. GPM's Dual-Frequency

Tornadoes have accompanied severe weather over the United States almost daily during the past week. Severe storms spawned tornadoes from Texas and Oklahoma eastward through Mississippi. Upper Midwest states such Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky were also visited by tornadoes. Extreme rainfall caused deadly flooding in Missouri. More than a dozen people in the Midwest and South have been reported killed by tornadoes or flooding. The same weather system is spreading severe storms through East and Northeastern states today. NASA's Integrated Multi-satelliE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data were used

Tropical cyclone Francis formed north of Melville Island, Australia on April 27, 2017. Francis has been gradually intensifying while moving south-southwestward through the Timor Sea. Francis had maximum sustained winds estimated at 50 kts (57.5 mph) when the GPM core Observatory flew over on April 27, 2017 at 1936 UTC. The rainfall analysis shown here used data collected by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments. DPR data indicated that strong convective storms near the center of the tropical storm were dropping rain at a rate of over 70 mm (2.8

Tropical Depression 03W formed in the Pacific Ocean west of Guam on April 24, 2017. The GPM core observatory satellite had an excellent view of TD03W when it flew over on April 14, 2017 at 1901 UTC. The GPM satellite found that the newly formed tropical depression contained some very powerful convective storms. Intense storms in the middle of the organizing convective cluster were dropping precipitation at extreme rates. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments unveiled tall convective storm towers on the eastern side of this cluster of storms that

Tropical storms are quite rare in the Atlantic at this time of the year, which is why the formation of Tropical Storm Arlene in the north Central Atlantic yesterday, Thursday April 20th at 5:00 pm EDT, was so unusual. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that Arlene became only the 2nd tropical storm to form in the Atlantic during the month of April in the entire satellite era, the other being Tropical Storm Ana back in 2003. GPM captured this timely image of Arlene just after the NHC officially designated it to be a tropical storm. The image was taken at 21:56 UTC (5:56 pm EDT) on

A low pressure area in the Atlantic Ocean, located southwest of the Azores was designated as Subtropical Depression One on April 19 as NASA examined its rainfall. By April 20 it had become the Atlantic's first tropical depression. Just as the subtropical depression was forming in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 19 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew directly over it and identified areas where rainfall was heaviest in the system. Data collected by GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR)

Tropical Storm Maarutha became the first tropical cyclone of 2017 in the Bay of Bengal when it formed on April 15, 2017. Maarutha intensified slightly as it moved northeastward toward Burma (Myanmar). Maarutha reached it's maximum sustained wind speed of 45 kts (52 mph) over the open waters of the Bay Of Bengal. The GPM core observatory satellite had a good view of the forming tropical cyclone on April 14, 2017 at 0121 UTC when it was in the Bay Of Bengal west of the Andaman Islands. GPM had another excellent view just before the organizing tropical cyclone was designated tropical storm