Hurricane Season 2011: Tropical Cyclone Thane (Northern Indian Ocean)
Hurricane Season 2011: Tropical Cyclone Thane (Northern Indian Ocean)
NASA Satellite Sees Tropical Cyclone Thane Strengthening
By NASA and Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite called TRMM passed over newly formed Tropical Cyclone Thane in the Northern Indian Ocean and saw an organized storm with heavy rainfall and “hot towering” clouds that hint at further intensification.
(Image: TRMM provided a “top down” rainfall analysis of Cyclone Thane on Dec. 26 at 1305 UTC. Light to moderate rainfall, depicted in blue and green is falling at a rate between .78 to 1.57 inches (20 to 40 mm) per hour. Heavy rainfall, seen in red was occurring at a rate of 2 inches (50 mm) per hour. TRMM noticed hot towering clouds as high as 8.7 miles high.Credit: SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce).
On Dec. 26 at 1305 UTC (8:05 a.m. EST) the TRMM satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Thane, formerly known as 06B and measured its rainfall rates. TRMM measured heavy rainfall rates in the northwestern quadrant of the storm near 1.7 inches (45 millimeters) per hour.
TRMM also noticed several hot towering clouds around Thane’s center that topped out around 8.7 miles (14 kilometers), indicating a lot of power in this tropical storm’s heat engine. The low-level center appears to be on the eastern edge of the heaviest rainfall because of light east-southeasterly vertical wind shear.
Hot Towers are towering clouds that emit a tremendous amount of latent heat (thus, called “hot”). NASA research indicates that whenever a hot tower is spotted, a tropical cyclone will likely intensify within six hours.
On Dec. 27 at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST), Tropical Cyclone Thane had maximum sustained winds near 60 knots (69 mph/111 kmh). Thane was located about 375 nautical miles (431 miles/694 kilometers) east of Chennai, India, near 12.3 North and 86.3 East. Thane is moving to the west-northwest at 4 knots (5 mph/7 kmh).
According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, “Animated multispectral satellite imagery continues to indicate a consolidating low-level circulation center with improved deep convective (thunderstorm) banding wrapping into the center.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts Thane to strengthen over the next day and then weaken before it makes landfall just south of Chennai late on Dec. 29 or early Dec. 30.
©Typologos.com 2011- Credit of article and belongs to NASA and Rob Gutro. Credit of Image and belongs to SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce
