Hurricane And Typhoon Updates

Apr. 26, 2019 – NASA Sees Remnants of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth Over Northern Mozambique

NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of the remnant clouds and storms still lingering over northern Mozambique on April 26. Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in the less-populated northern reaches of Mozambique on April 25.

On April 25, NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Mozambique. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument captured a visible image of the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth as it continued to linger over the country and generate rainfall. According to the Republic of Mozambique’s National Meteorological Institute (NMI), on April 25, “Kenneth was nestled in the valley of Cabo Delgado, located in the District of Macomia.”

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Kenneth made landfall with maximum wind speeds of 140 miles per hour (220 kph), the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane.

Kenneth weakened rapidly overnight, as it moved north of Pemba. Part of the area Kenneth moved over includes the Parque Nacional das Quirimbas or the National Park of Quirimbas. The park covers 68 miles (110 kilometers) and 11 of the southernmost Quirimbas islands. On the mainland, the park is located along the northeast coast of Mozambique.

According to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, a storm surge was recorded between 16.4 and 23 feet (5 and 7 meters) high in areas located north of Pemba. Kenneth has already dropped over 9.8 inches (250 mm) of rainfall and the storm is expected to continue raining over Mozambique for the next several days.

NMI forecasters noted on April 25, “Heavy rains are expected to be very strong (1.9 to 3.9 inches or 50 to 100 millimeters in 24 hours), strong gusts up to (43.4 mph) 70 kilometers per hour and severe thunderstorms in the provinces of Cabo Delgado (all districts), Nampula (districts of Nacala, Memba, Erati, Nacarroa, Muecate, Namapa, Island of Mocambique, Mussoril and Monapo) and Niassa (districts of Mecula, Marrupa and Nipepe).”

For updated alerts from NMI, visit: http://www.inam.gov.mz/index.php/pt/alertas-e-avisos

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Apr. 25, 2019 – NASA’s AIRS Images Cyclone Kenneth over Mozambique

Just weeks after Cyclone Idai left a path of destruction through Mozambique, Cyclone Kenneth is now battering the country in southeast Africa. It is likely the strongest storm on record to hit Mozambique, with wind speeds equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane at landfall. It is also the first time in recent history that the country has been hit by back-to-back hurricane-strength storms.

NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured this infrared image of Kenneth just as the storm was about to make landfall on April 25. The large purple area indicates very cold clouds carried high into the atmosphere by deep thunderstorms. The orange areas are mostly cloud-free; the clear air is caused by air moving outward from the cold clouds near the storm’s center, then downward into the surrounding areas.

The image was taken at 1:30 p.m. local time, just before the cyclone made landfall in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province. With maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (225 kph), Kenneth was the first known hurricane-strength storm to make landfall in the province. Heavy rainfall and life-threatening flooding are expected over the next several days.

AIRS, in conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), senses emitted infrared and microwave radiation from Earth to provide a three-dimensional look at Earth’s weather and climate. Working in tandem, the two instruments make simultaneous observations down to Earth’s surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, three-dimensional map of atmospheric temperature and humidity, cloud amounts and heights, greenhouse gas concentrations and many other atmospheric phenomena. Launched into Earth orbit in 2002, the AIRS and AMSU instruments fly onboard NASA’s Aqua spacecraft and are managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, under contract with NASA. JPL is a division of Caltech.

More information about AIRS and NASA’s Disasters Program can be found here:

https://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/

https://disasters.nasa.gov/

By Esprit Smith
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-4269
esprit.smith@jpl.nasa.gov

Apr. 25, 2019 – NASA-NOAA Satellite Catches Intense Tropical Cyclone Kenneth Make Landfall in Northern Mozambique

Mozambique is still recovering from deadly Tropical Cyclone Idai, and a second powerful tropical cyclone has now made landfall in the country. As NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed over the Southern Indian Ocean, it captured an infrared image of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth making landfall in northern Mozambique.

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall on March 15 in central Mozambique. It caused catastrophic flooding, landslides, and large numbers of casualties across Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.

Intense Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall today, April 25, in northern Mozambique. It was likely the strongest storm on record in northern Mozambique, equivalent to a weak Category 4, strong Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Kenneth has also made history simply by the fact that Mozambique has never been hit by back-to-back storms.

Over night of April 24 and 25, intense Tropical Cyclone Kenneth was observed by three satellites including Suomi NPP, NOAA’s NOAA-20 and the GCOM-W1 satellite. Each provided several unique points of view of the storm.  On April 25 at 0000 UTC (April 24 at 8 p.m. EDT) The Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre or RSMC at La Reunion Island stated that Kenneth had winds of 105 knots (121 mph/194 kph), which would have meant at the time it was the equivalent to a Category 3 storm. By 2 a.m. EDT (0600 UTC), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center had satellite derived winds of 125 knots (144 mph/213 kph).

William Straka III, a Researcher at the University of Wisconsin – Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) created imagery using the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite data. “Kenneth was first observed by Suomi-NPP at 5:24 p.m. EDT (2142 UTC) on the edge of the pass as it was to the northwest of Comoros. The infrared imagery showed features that are typical of an intense tropical system with overshooting cloud tops and convectively driven tropospheric gravity waves.”

Between the time Suomi NPP passed overhead and the NOAA-20 polar orbiting satellite passed over the region, the eye appeared to clear.  In addition, the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) instrument aboard the NOAA-20 satellite looked at the inner structure of the storm. The ATMS microwave imagery showed powerful thunderstorms completely surrounded the eye of the storm.

By 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on April 25, Kenneth was still making landfall in northeastern Mozambique.  It was centered near 12.1 degrees south latitude and 50.8 east longitude. That is about 150 miles west of Comoros Island. Kenneth was moving to the west-southwest and had maximum sustained winds 120 knots (138 mph/222 kph).

The JTWC forecaster said the system will rapidly weaken over land, but the remnants may re-emerge over the Mozambique Channel after a few days.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Apr. 24, 2019 – NASA Examines Tropical Cyclone Kenneth in Infrared Light

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Kenneth and analyzed the storm in infrared light.

Infrared light provides scientists with temperature data and that is important when trying to understand how strong storms can be. The higher the cloud tops, the colder and the stronger they are. So infrared light as that gathered by the AIRS instrument can identify the strongest sides of a tropical cyclone.

NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over Kenneth on April 23 at 6:41 a.m. EDT (1041 UTC).  AIRS detected strongest storms around the center of circulation and in a band of thunderstorms southwest of the center. Those areas revealed cloud top temperatures as cold as minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius). Storms with cloud top temperatures that cold extend high into the troposphere and have the capability to produce heavy rainfall.

On April 24, Kenneth was located northeast of the island nation of Madagascar in the Southern Indian Ocean. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth as it moved into the Mozambique Channel. The Channel is a body of water located between the island nation of Madagascar and Mozambique on the African mainland.

On April 24 at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) Tropical cyclone Kenneth was located near 10.9 degrees south latitude and 45.7 east longitude. That is 148 nautical miles east-northeast of Comoros Island. Kenneth was moving to the west. Maximum sustained winds had increased to 70 knots (80 mph/130 kph) making Kenneth hurricane-strength.

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect Kenneth to move west and then shift toward the west-southwest while strengthening to 105 knots (121 mph/194 kph) prior to landfall in northern Mozambique.

For more information about AIRS, visit: airs.jpl.nasa.gov.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Apr. 23, 2019 – NASA Catches Formation of Tropical Cyclone Kenneth Near Aldabra

Visible satellite imagery from NASA’s Aqua satellite revealed the formation of Tropical Storm Kenneth in the Southern Indian Ocean. Kenneth formed north of Madagascar and east of the Aldabra Atoll.

An atoll is a ring shaped coral reef. The Aldabra is the world’s second-largest coral atoll. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands and part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

At 6:45 a.m. EDT (1045 UTC) on April 23, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image of Kenneth. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC forecasters noted “Satellite imagery shows deep convection (rising air that forms thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone) beginning to wrap symmetrically around a low-level circulation center and forming the early stages of a central dense overcast.”

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on April 23, Tropical Storm Kenneth had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/65 kph). At that time, Kenneth was centered near 10.4 degrees south latitude and 49.4 degrees east longitude, approximately 727 nautical miles northwest of Port Louis, Mauritius. Kenneth was tracking to the west-southwest.

Kenneth is expected to move toward the border of Mozambique and Tanzania. The area in which the storm is forecast to track, has very warm sea surface temperatures that will allow the storm to strengthen over the next couple of days. Kenneth is forecast to make landfall in extreme northern Mozambique on April 25.

Residents along the Mozambique/Tanzania border should make preparations for storm surge along the coasts, heavy rainfall and hurricane-force winds.

On April 22, the Tanzania Meteorological Agency issued a broadcast about the development of Tropical Storm Kenneth and its possible effects: https://youtu.be/7_bROK_3RbQ.

For updates from the Tanzania Meteorological Agency, visit: http://meteo.go.tz/

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center