NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tropical Storm Cleo form in southern Indian Ocean
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured the birth of Tropical Storm Cleo in the southern Indian Ocean today, December 7. TRMM is managed by both NASA and the Japanese Space Agency, and provides rainfall estimates of tropical systems from its orbit in space. Data from TRMM earlier today revealed that there are some areas around Cleo's circulation where rain is falling at about one inch per hour.
At 1200 UTC (7 a.m. ET) today, Cleo had maximum sustained winds near 52 mph with higher gusts. Cleo was centered approximately 425 nautical miles east-southeast of the island of Diego Garcia, near 9.1 South latitude and 79.4 East longitude. Diego Garcia is a coral atoll and the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It is located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 miles south of the southern coast of India. Cleo was moving west near 13 mph.
Cleo strengthened quickly because of light wind shear and very warm ocean waters. Those two factors enable a tropical cyclone to strengthen, and are available in Cleo's path so the storm is expected to continue intensifying.
Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Articles on the same topic
- TRMM Satellite sees Cyclone Cleo coming to a closeFri, 11 Dec 2009, 19:52:07 UTC
- Cyclone Cleo back down to tropical storm statusThu, 10 Dec 2009, 20:03:57 UTC
- Cyclone Cleo has reached its maximum wind speedWed, 9 Dec 2009, 19:49:51 UTC
- NASA captures a visible image of Cleo's new eyeTue, 8 Dec 2009, 19:08:53 UTC
Other sources
- TRMM Satellite sees Cyclone Cleo coming to a closefrom Science BlogFri, 11 Dec 2009, 21:56:24 UTC
- TRMM Satellite sees Cyclone Cleo coming to a closefrom PhysorgFri, 11 Dec 2009, 20:42:12 UTC
- TRMM Satellite sees Cyclone Cleo coming to a closefrom Science BlogFri, 11 Dec 2009, 20:07:20 UTC
- Cyclone Cleo back down to tropical storm statusfrom Science BlogThu, 10 Dec 2009, 21:56:13 UTC
- Cyclone Cleo back down to tropical storm statusfrom PhysorgThu, 10 Dec 2009, 20:07:14 UTC
- Cyclone Cleo has reached its maximum wind speedfrom Science BlogWed, 9 Dec 2009, 21:21:16 UTC
- Cyclone Cleo has reached its maximum wind speedfrom PhysorgWed, 9 Dec 2009, 20:35:21 UTC
- NASA captures a visible image of Cleo's new eyefrom Science BlogTue, 8 Dec 2009, 20:35:25 UTC
- NASA captures a visible image of Cleo's new eyefrom PhysorgTue, 8 Dec 2009, 19:21:34 UTC
- NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tropical Storm Cleo form in southern Indian Oceanfrom PhysorgTue, 8 Dec 2009, 18:14:28 UTC