Tag: Maha 2019

Nov. 06, 2019 – NASA-NOAA Satellite Finds Tropical Cyclone Maha Weakening

NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed over the Northern Indian Ocean and provided forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center with a view of Tropical Cyclone Maha’s eroding structure that helped confirm it is weakening.

On Nov. 6, 2019, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a visible image of Maha that showed it was less circular. Dry air was wrapping into the center of the storm inhibiting thunderstorm development. Maha appeared less circular in the imagery.

The shape of the storm is a clue to forecasters that a storm is either strengthening or weakening. If a storm takes on a more rounded shape it is getting more organized and strengthening. Conversely, if it becomes less rounded or elongated, it is a sign the storm is weakening as Maha is doing.

On Nov. 6 at 4 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), Tropical Cyclone Maha’s maximum sustained winds were near 50 knots (58 mph/93 kph). It was located near latitude 19.8 degrees north and longitude 66.9 degrees east, about 300 nautical miles south of Karachi, Pakistan.

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect Maha to continue moving east and weakening. The system is expected to skirt the Saurashtra coast and dissipate before making landfall north of Mumbai in northwestern India.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts from the India Meteorological Department, Visit: http://www.rsmcnewdelhi.imd.gov.in/

By Rob Gutro 
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Nov. 05, 2019 – NASA Looks at Tropical Cyclone Maha’s Water Vapor Concentration

When NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the Northern Indian Ocean, water vapor data provided information about the intensity of Tropical Cyclone Maha.

NASA’s Aqua satellite passed Tropical Cyclone Maha on Nov. 5 at 3:47 a.m. EST (0847 UTC) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument gathered water vapor content and temperature information. The MODIS image showed highest concentrations of water vapor and coldest cloud top temperatures were in a fragmented band of thunderstorms around the low-level center of circulation as well as northeast of the center.

MODIS data also showed the coldest cloud top temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 degrees Celsius) in those storms. Storms with cloud top temperatures that cold have the capability to produce heavy rainfall.

Water vapor analysis of tropical cyclones tells forecasters how much potential a storm has to develop. Water vapor releases latent heat as it condenses into liquid. That liquid becomes clouds and thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone. Temperature is important when trying to understand how strong storms can be. The higher the cloud tops, the colder and the stronger they are.

Around the same time as the MODIS water vapor imagery, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided temperature data on the cloud tops. AIRS confirmed that the coldest cloud top temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 degrees Celsius).

At 10 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Cyclone Maha was located near latitude 19.8 degrees north and longitude 63.8 degrees east. That puts the center just 49 miles south-southwest of Karachi, Pakistan. Maha is moving to the east-northeast and has maximum sustained winds near 85 knots (98 mph/157 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said that Maha has turned around and is now weakening, and is expected to dissipate before making landfall in northwestern India.

NASA’s Aqua satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for hurricane research.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Nov. 04, 2019 – NASA Provides an Infrared Analysis of Tropical Cyclone Maha   

NASA infrared imagery revealed Tropical Cyclone Maha was still a powerful storm as it continued moving through the Arabian Sea in the Northern Indian Ocean.

On Nov. 4 at 4:45 a.m. EDT (0945 UTC the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite used infrared light to analyze the strength of the storms within the tropical cyclone. NASA researches these storms to determine how they rapidly intensify, develop and behave.

Tropical cyclones are made of up hundreds of thunderstorms, and infrared data can show where the strongest storms are located. They can do that because infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach highest into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.

MODIS found those strongest storms were circling the center of circulation where cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 Celsius). NASA research has found that cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall.

On Nov. 4 at 4 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), Tropical Cyclone Maha had maximum sustained winds near 100 knots (115 mph /185 kph). It was located near latitude 18.5 degrees north and longitude 64.4 degrees east, about 405 miles south-southwest of Karachi, Pakistan. Maha was moving to the northwest.

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that Maha will move west-northwest and continue to strengthen. The storm will then turn to the east and weaken rapidly, before making landfall in northwestern India.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Nov. 01, 2019 – NASA Finds Tropical Storm Maha’s Heavy Rain Potential Over Lakshadweep

Tropical Cyclone Maha continued to move north along the southwestern coast of India when NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead and analyzed the cloud top temperatures. Satellite imagery showed the storms with the greatest rainfall potential were over the Lakshadweep islands.

One of the ways NASA researches tropical cyclones is using infrared data that provides temperature information. Cloud top temperatures identify where the strongest storms are located. The stronger the storms, the higher they extend into the troposphere, and the colder the cloud temperatures.

Tropical cyclones do not always have uniform strength, and some sides are stronger than others, so knowing where the strongest sides of the storms are located helps forecasters. NASA then provides data to tropical cyclone meteorologists so they can incorporate it in their forecasts. The AIRS imagery appeared to show those strongest storms were on the eastern side of Maha.

On Oct. 31 at 4:29 a.m. EDT (0829 UTC) NASA’s Aqua satellite analyzed the storm using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument. The AIRS imagery showed the strongest storms were located over the Lakshadweep Islands. Lakshadweep is a group of about three dozen islands scattered over about 30,000 square miles (78,000 square km) in the Arabian Sea off the southwestern coast of India.

AIRS found coldest cloud top temperatures as cold as or colder than 210 Kelvin (minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit  or minus 63.1 degrees Celsius) around the center as well as east of center. NASA research has shown that cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms that have the capability to create heavy rain.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Nov. 1, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted that the center of Maha was located near latitude 16.0 degrees north latitude and longitude 69.0 degrees east longitude. That puts the center about 555 nautical miles south-southeast of Karachi, Pakistan. Maximum sustained winds were near 45 knots (52 mph/83 kph).

Maha is forecast to continue moving northwest and parallel to the west coast of the Indian peninsula. After three days, the storm is forecast to turn west into the central Arabian Sea.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

The AIRS instrument is one of six instruments flying on board NASA’s Aqua satellite, launched on May 4, 2002.

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center  

Oct. 31, 2019 – NASA Sees Development of Tropical Storm Maha at Southwestern India Coast

Tropical Storm Maha has developed near the coastline of southwestern India and NASA’s Terra satellite provided forecasters with a visible image of the storm.

On Oct. 31 at 4:30 a.m. EDT (0830 UTC), the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Maha. The image showed Maha was off the coast of southwestern India. The storm also appeared somewhat elongated so it is still in the process of consolidating and strengthening.

The shape of the storm is a clue to forecasters that a storm is either strengthening or weakening. If a storm takes on a more rounded shape it is getting more organized and strengthening. Conversely, if it becomes less rounded or elongated, it is a sign the storm is weakening. Maha has appeared to become more symmetrical in the MODIS imagery on Oct. 31, indicating it had become better organized.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on Oct. 31, the center of Tropical Storm Maha was located near latitude 11.9 degrees north and longitude 73.1 degrees east. That puts the center about 848 nautical miles south-southeast of Karachi, Pakistan, and just west of the southern tip of India. Maximum sustained winds were near 60 knots (69 mph/111 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted that Maha will move northwest, parallel to the west coast of the Indian peninsula over the next couple of days.

Hurricanes are the most powerful weather event on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

For updated forecasts, visit: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

By Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center