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Nov. 04, 2013 - NASA Sees Strengthening Tropical Storm Haiyan Lashing Micronesia
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NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Haiyan on Nov. 4 and infrared data showed a large area of powerful thunderstorms affecting Micronesia. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center has forecast newborn Tropical Storm Haiyan to strengthen to a powerful typhoon before making landfall in the Philippines on Nov 8.
In its orbit around the Earth, NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Haiyan on Nov. 4 at 0347 UTC/10:47 p.m. EDT on Nov. 3. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument captured infrared data that measured cloud top temperatures in the strengthening tropical storm. AIRS data showed a large area of strong convection with high, cold cloud tops. Temperatures exceeded -63F/-52C over a large area. Satellite data shows that the convection, the rising air that forms the thunderstorms that make up the tropical cyclone, have deepened, or strengthened over the previous 24 hours.
Microwave imagery from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite shows improved banding of thunderstorms wrapping around the tropical storm today, Nov. 5.
Haiyan is lashing the islands of Micronesia and warnings and watches are in effect today, Nov. 5.
Micronesia consists of a group of islands in the western Pacific Ocean that include the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands including Kiribati, the Caroline Islands, Nauru, Wake Island and the Mariana Islands. The area contains thousands of small islands and is part of the larger Oceana.
A Typhoon Warning is in effect for Woleai in Yap State. A Typhoon Watch is in effect for Koror and Kayangel, Republic of Palau; for Satawal in Yap State; and for Faraulep, Fais, Ulithi, Yap Island and Ngulu in Yap State. A Tropical Storm Warning has been posted for Puluwat in Chuuk State as well as for Satawal in Yap State, and a tropical storm Watch is up for Ulul and Fananu in Chuuk State.
On Nov. 5 at 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT Haiyan's maximum sustained winds were near 45 knots/51.7 mph/83.3 kph and it is moving through an area of warm waters and low wind shear which is expected to help the storm strengthen. Haiyan was centered near 6.2 north and 147.6 east about 640 nautical miles east-southeast of Yap. Haiyan is moving to the west at 19 knots/21.8 mph/35.9 kph.
Haiyan is moving west-northwest through Micronesia. It is expected to pass between Yap and Palau on Nov. 6 before making landfall in the central Philippines. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Haiyan to intensify to 120 knots/138.1 mph/222.2 kph as it approaches the central Philippines on Nov. 8. That strength is equal to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
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NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Haiyan on Nov. 4 at 0347 UTC/10:47 p.m. EDT on Nov. 3 as it was lashing the islands that make up Micronesia in the western North Pacific Ocean.
Image Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen
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Nov. 5, 2013 - NASA Investigates Typhoon Haiyan's Intense Rainfall
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As Typhoon Haiyan has been strengthening, NASA's TRMM satellite investigated how much rain was falling throughout the storm. Typhoon Haiyan is now closing in on Yap and Palau with a forecast to move through the central Philippines, so all of those areas are under warnings and watches.
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM passed over Typhoon Haiyan on Nov. 4 at 1042 UTC/5:42 a.m. EDT. TRMM's Precipitation Radar instrument provided data on rainfall in the storm's northeastern quadrant. Rainfall near the center appeared to be falling at a rate of between 50 and 60 mm/1.9 and 2.3 inches per hour. Rainfall outside the center was falling between 10 and 30 mm/0.39 and 1.18 inches per hour. TRMM also saw that some of the thunderstorms were reaching heights over 10 km/6.2 miles high.
On Nov. 5 at 1500 UTC, Haiyan's maximum sustained winds increased to 90 knots/103.6 mph/166.7 kph, and are forecast to increase more over the next several days. Haiyan is centered near 6.9 north and 142.3 east, about 333 nautical miles/ 383.2 miles/616 km east-southeast of Yap. The typhoon is moving to the west-northwest at 15 knots/ 17.2 mph/27.7 kph.
A Typhoon Warning is in effect for Kayangel in the Republic of Palau and Ngulu in Yap State, and a Typhoon Watch is in effect for Fais, Ulithi, in Yap State. In addition, a Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect for Yap Island in Yap State and Koror in Palau.
Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC who provide the bulletins and forecasts on the storm noted on Nov. 5 that animated enhanced infrared satellite imagery showed the Haiyan was intensifying quickly and bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the center were strengthening. There was a strong band of thunderstorms wrapping around the western semi-circle and into an eye detected by microwave satellite data.
JTWC expects the storm to intensify rapidly over the next two to three days as it moves through the Philippine Sea.
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On Nov. 4, NASA's TRMM satellite found precipitation falling at a rate of about 50 and 60 mm/1.9 and 2.3 inches per hour near Typhoon Haiyan's center and between 10 and 30 mm/0.39 and 1.18 inches per hour outside the center.
Image Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce
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Nov. 06, 2013 - NASA Sees Heavy Rain Around Super-Typhoon Haiyan's Eye
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Super Typhoon Haiyan continues moving toward the Philippines, and when NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead, it was very close to the island of Palau and packing heavy rainfall. Haiyan is now equivalent to a Category 5 Hurricane.
The forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC accurately predicted that Typhoon Haiyan would become a powerful category five typhoon with sustained winds estimated to be over 135 knots/~155 mph.
On Nov. 6, a typhoon Warning remained in effect for Kayangel and Koror in the Republic of Palau and Ngulu in Yap State and a tropical storm warning was in effect for Yap Island in Yap State.
Super typhoon Haiyan was located just northeast of Palau when the TRMM or Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite flew above on November 6, 2013 at 1026 UTC/5:26 a.m. EST. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. a rainfall analysis from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments was overlaid on an enhanced infrared image from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS). The data revealed that rain was falling at a rate of over 100mm/~3.9 inches per hour around Haiyan's eye.
Satellite data also showed a persistent ring of deep convection around the small eye. Haiyan's eye appeared to be about 8 nautical miles in diameter. The TRMM satellite's microwave data showed an intense convective core (thunderstorms building around the eye) and improved convective banding of thunderstorms in all quadrants of the super-typhoon.
At 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT, Super Typhoon Haiyan had maximum sustained winds near 140 knots/161 mph/259 kph. That makes Haiyan equivalent to a Category 5 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center website indicates that a Category 5 hurricane/typhoon would cause catastrophic damage: A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.
Hiayan's center was located near 8.1 north and 135.4 east, about 113 nautical miles/130 miles/209.3 km east-northeast of Koror, Palau. It is moving to the west at 18 knots/20.7 mph/33.4 kph and generating 43-foot/13.1-meter-high seas.
Super typhoon is expected to make landfall over the central Philippines just slightly on Nov. 8 and will slightly weaken as it tracks across the islands before emerging in the South China Sea.
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Data from TRMM's TMI and PR instruments on Nov. 6 at 1026 UTC revealed that rain was falling at a rate of over 100mm/~3.9 inches per hour (purple) around Haiyan's eye.
Image Credit: NASA/SSAI Hal Pierce
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Nov. 07, 2013 - NASA Satellites See Super-Typhoon Haiyan Lashing the Philippines
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Super-Typhoon Haiyan was lashing the central and southern Philippines on Nov. 7 bringing maximum sustained winds of a Category 5 hurricane. NASA is providing visible, infrared and microwave satellite data to forecasters and warnings are in effect for the Philippines and Micronesia as Haiyan moves west.
Brian McNoldy, a Senior Research Associate at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, Fla. noted that on the morning (EST) of Nov. 7, "Haiyan has achieved tropical cyclone perfection. It is now estimated at 165kts (190mph), with an 8.0 on the Dvorak scale... the highest possible value."
Warnings in the Philippines have been raise throughout much of the country. In Luzon:
Signal #1 is in effect for : Camarines Norte & Sur, Catanduanes, Mindoro Provinces, Marinduque, Northern Palawan, Calamian Group of Islands, and Southern Quezon.
Signal #2 is in effect for: Romblon, Sorsogon, Albay, Ticao and Burias island.
In Visayas, Signal #1 is in effect for Squijor, and Signal #2 is in effect for: Bohol, Negros Occidental and Oriental, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, rest of Cebu, Iloilo and Guimara. Signal #3 is in effect for: Northern Samar, Masbate, northern Cebu, Cebu City and Bantayan island, and Signal #4 is in effect for: Eastern Samar, Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte and Biliran island.
In Mindanao, Signal #1 was posted for: Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur; Signal #2 for: Camiguin, Surigao del Norte & Sur and Agusan del Norte and Signal #3 is in effect for: Siargao Island and Dinagat province.
In Micronesia, a Typhoon Warning is in effect for Kayangel and Koror in the Republic of Palau and Ngulu in Yap State.
Early on Nov. 7, NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Super Typhoon Haiyan as it was approaching the Philippines. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard captured a visible image on Nov. 7, 2013 at 04:25 UTC/Nov. 6 at 11:25 p.m. EDT that showed the thick bands of powerful thunderstorms that surrounded the eye. The MODIS image also revealed a powerful, wide band of thunderstorms in the western quadrant that was affecting the Philippines in the early morning hours (Eastern Daylight Time/U.S.) on Nov. 7.
At the same time, another instrument aboard Aqua captured infrared data on the storm using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument, providing cloud top temperatures and sea surface temperatures. The infrared data revealed a sharply defined eye with multiple concentric rings of thunderstorms and a deep convective eyewall. The infrared data showed cloud top temperatures as cold as 210 degrees kelvin/-81.67F/-63.15C/ in the thick band of thunderstorms around the center. Those cold temperatures indicate very high, powerful thunderstorms with very heavy rain potential.
On Nov. 7 at 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT, Super-Typhoon Haiyan's maximum sustained winds were near 165 knots/189.9 mph/305.6 kph. Haiyan is a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated that gusts are as strong as 200 knots/ 230.2 mph/370.4 kph.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center website indicates that a Category 5 hurricane/typhoon would cause catastrophic damage: A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.
Haiyan was located near 10.4 north latitude and 128.1 east longitude, about 543 nautical miles east-southeast of Manila, Philippines. It is moving west-northwest at 22 knots/25.3 mph/40.7 kph and generating extremely rough seas with wave heights to 50 feet/15.2 meters.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that extremely favorable environmental conditions such as the warm waters ahead of the system will help to maintain its strength at super typhoon intensity through landfall in the central Philippines and up to 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EDT on Nov. 8. According to forecast track, Manila is now expected to be impacted by the northeastern quadrant, the strongest side of the storm.
After passing through the Philippines, Haiyan is expected to move through the South China Sea as it heads for landfall in Vietnam.
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This visible image of Super Typhoon Haiyan approaching the Philippines was taken from the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on Nov. 7, 2013 at 04:25 UTC/Nov. 6 at 11:25 p.m. EDT.
Image Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
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The AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this infrared, false-colored image of Super-Typhoon Haiyan exiting the western Philippines on Nov. 8 at 04:59 UTC. Purple indicates coldest, most powerful thunderstorms with heavy rainfall potential.
Image Credit: NASA JPL/Ed Olsen
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Update #2 - NASA's TRMM Satellite Sees Super-typhoon Haiyan Strike Philippines
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Super-typhoon Haiyan, equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane on the U.S. Saffir-Simpson scale, struck the central Philippines municipality of Guiuan at the southern tip of the province of Eastern Samar early Friday morning at 20:45 UTC (4:45 am local time). NASA's TRMM satellite captured visible, microwave and infrared data on the storm.
Haiyan made landfall as an extremely powerful super typhoon, perhaps the strongest ever recorded at landfall, with sustained winds estimated at 195 mph (315 kph) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Previously, Hurricane Camille, which struck the northern Gulf Coast in 1969, held the record with 190 mph sustained winds at landfall. After striking Samar, Haiyan quickly crossed Leyte Gulf and the island of Leyte as it cut through the central Philippines.
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured an image of Haiyan just as it was crossing the island of Leyte in the central Philippines. Data was taken at 00:19 UTC (8:19 a.m. local) November 8, 2013 and showed the horizontal distribution of rain intensity within the Haiyan. Rain rates in the center of the swath were generated from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), and those in the outer swath were from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The data was put together at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. where rain rates were overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). It showed that Haiyan still had a well-defined eye surrounded by a symmetric area of moderate rain with several rainbands wrapping in from the south. The symmetric rain area around the eye is a testament to the storm's intensity--the stronger the storm, the more the features are smeared uniformly around the center. At the time of the image, Haiyan's sustained winds were estimated to have dropped slightly to 160 knots/~185 mph from crossing Leyte.
TRMM passed over Haiyan about 10 hours later on Nov. 8 at 10:08 UTC/5:08 a.m. EDT/6:08 p.m. Philippines local time. Haiyan was passing south of Mindoro as it was beginning to exit the Philippines. The center was less organized after having passed over the larger Philippines island of Panay, although a large area of heavy rain (shown in red) is now located just south of the center. At the time of this image, Haiyan's intensity was estimated to be 145 knots/~167 mph, still equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
On Nov. 8 at 1500 UTC/11 a.m. EDT/12 a.m. Nov. 9 Philippines local time, Haiyan's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 135 knots/155.4 mph/250 kph. It slowed a bit, moving to the west at 20 knots/23.0 mph/37.0 kph. Although Haiyan was centered near 11.8 north and 120.6 east, about 170 miles south of Manila, its extent covered most of the Philippines.
So far, four fatalities have been reported as a result of the storm, but these are preliminary as communication to many areas was knocked out. Haiyan is expected to continue moving in a general westward direction over the next 1 to 2 days before likely striking central Vietnam.
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NASA's TRMM satellite data on Nov. 8 at 00:19 UTC showed Haiyan had a well-defined eye surrounded by a symmetric area of moderate rain (green ring with a blue center) with several rainbands wrapping in from the south (green arcs) while crossing the island of Leyte in the central Philippines.
Image Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce
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TRMM saw Haiyan's center was less organized after having passed over the larger Philippines island of Panay, although a large area of heavy rain (shown in ed) is now located just south of the center. Haiyan was estimated to be 145 knots (~167 mph), still equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane.
Image Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 9.11.2013
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NASA Peers Into One of Earth's Strongest Storms Ever
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NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua spacecraft captured these infrared images of Super Typhoon Haiyan at 8:59 p.m. PST Nov. 7 (left) and 9:17 a.m. PST Nov. 8 (right). The storm’s coldest cloud-top temperatures and areas of heaviest rainfall are depicted by the brightest shades of purple.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech
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New satellite images just obtained from NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua spacecraft and the Indian Space Research Organization’s OceanSAT-2 ocean wind scatterometer provide a glimpse into one of the most powerful storms ever recorded on Earth.
According to the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Typhoon Haiyan had maximum sustained winds of 195 mph (314 kilometers per hour), with gusts up to 235 mph (379 kilometers per hour) shortly before making landfall in the central Philippines today. That would make it one of the strongest storms ever recorded. Weather officials in the Philippines reported the storm, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, came ashore with maximum sustained winds of 147 mph (235 kilometers per hour) and gusts of up to 170 mph (275 miles per hour).
The two AIRS images, acquired at 8:59 p.m. PST on Nov. 7 (left) and 9:17 a.m. PST on Nov. 8 (right), show the powerful storm in infrared. When the image on the left was acquired, the storm was located 214 miles (344 kilometers) south-southeast of Manila. By the time the image on the right was acquired, the fast-moving storm was already centered west of the Philippines, on a forecast track that will take it to Vietnam. The storm’s coldest cloud-top temperatures are indicated by the brightest shades of purple, and show where Haiyan’s heaviest rainfall was occurring.
Another image, from the OSCAT radar scatterometer on the Indian Space Research Organization’s OceanSAT-2 satellite, shows Haiyan’s ocean surface winds at 5:30 p.m. PST on Nov. 6. The wind data were calculated by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., using an advanced wind retrieval algorithm designed for tropical cyclone conditions. The colors indicate wind speed and arrows indicate wind direction. The wind speeds were measured in 15-by-15-mile (24-by-24-kilometer) boxes that recorded a maximum value of 128 miles, or 206 kilometers, per hour). That’s why these wind speeds are lower than the maximum small-scale winds calculated by the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
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Visible image of Super Typhoon Haiyan acquired from NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua spacecraft at 8:59 p.m. PST, Nov. 7.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Super Typhoon Haiyan’s ocean surface winds were measured by the OSCAT radar scatterometer on the Indian Space Research Organization’s OceanSAT-2 satellite at 5:30 p.m. PST on Nov. 6. The colors indicate wind speed and arrows indicate wind direction.
Image Credit:
ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Quelle: NASA
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