NASA Sees Development of Tropical Cyclone 3S along Western Australia's Coast

A NASA satellite provided a look at heavy rainfall occurring in a tropical low pressure system as it was consolidating and strengthening into what became Tropical Storm 3S in Southwest Indian Ocean.

On January 26 the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) warned that System 90P, a low pressure area moving westward over northwestern Australia would strengthen into a tropical cyclone and by January 27 it had become Tropical Cyclone 3S.

The warm waters of the Southern Indian Ocean and low vertical wind shear are providing a good environment for tropical cyclone development.

NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency manage the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM satellite, and GPM flew over northwestern Australia on January 25 at 6:51 p.m. EST (2351 UTC). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) measured precipitation within strong thunderstorms in the Indian Ocean northwest of the low's center of circulation. The satellite found that some of these bands of convective storms near northwest Australia's coast area were dropping rain at a rate of almost 83 mm (3.3 inches) per hour.

Continue reading at NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center

Photo: On January 25 at 6:51 p.m. EST (2351 UTC) the GPM satellite found rainfall rates in some of the bands of thunderstorms around the developing tropical cyclone were falling at a rate of almost 83 mm (3.3 inches) per hour as seen in this 3-D image.  Credits: NASA / JAXA, Hal Pierce.