Weather

Earth’s climate is changing. The accumulation of greenhouse gases has affected the oceans and ice systems as well as the atmosphere, which in turn impacts the water cycle. To predict future changes in weather and climate and estimate environmental variables, scientists use sophisticated computer models. These models rely on available global data to describe the conditions that exist today to project how conditions may change in the future. GPM’s Weather, Climate, and Land Surface Modeling Applications area promotes the use of precipitation measurements from GPM satellites to help model future behavior of precipitation patterns and climate.

GPM Sees Hurricane Dorian Lashing Florida

GPM observes Hurricane Dorian lashing Florida

Friday, September 6, 2019

Download in high resolution from the NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio GPM captured Dorian at 10:41 UTC (6:41 am EDT) on the 4th of September when the storm was moving north-northwest parallel to the coast of Florida about 90 miles due east of Daytona Beach. Three days earlier, Dorian had struck the northern Bahamas as one of the most powerful Category 5 hurricanes on record in the Atlantic with sustained winds of 185 mph. Weakening steering currents allowed the powerful storm to ravage the northern Bahamas for 2 full days. During this time, Dorian began to weaken due to its...

Hurricane Dorian Brings Heavy Rain to Bahamas

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

In addition to the powerful winds that have raked the northern Bahamas over the past few days, Hurricane Dorian’s slow motion has brought very heavy rainfall to the islands as well. Dorian first formed into a tropical depression on the 24th of August about 800 miles east southeast of Barbados in the Lesser Antilles from an area of low pressure; the depression was quickly upgraded to a minimal tropical storm and named Dorian by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) later in the day. As Dorian made its way westward under the influence of a high pressure ridge to the north, it was held in check...

GPM Observes Hurricane Dorian Over Bahamas

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Download in high resolution from the NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio. The NASA / JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory flew over Hurricane Dorian on September 1st (5:22pm ET / 21:22 UTC) as the storm was directly over Abaco Island in The Bahamas. The satellite captured data on rainfall rates within the storm as it flew over using its Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and GPM Microwave Imager (GMI). In this animation the multi-satellite GPM IMERG product is shown first to illustrate rainfall rates prior to the overpass. When the camera zooms in data...

IMERG Measures Rainfall in Hurricane Dorian

Friday, August 30, 2019

UPDATE 9/9/19: On Monday morning, September 9, Hurricane Dorian was a post-tropical storm after a mid-latitude weather front and cold seas had altered its tropical characteristics over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, Hurricane Dorian struck eastern Canada, causing wind damage and bringing heavy rainfall. According to the Associated Press, a peak of 400,000 people were without power in Nova Scotia, Canada, because of Dorian. This graphic shows precipitation that fell during the almost two-week period from August 27 to the early hours of September 9. The near-realtime rain estimates come...