NASA Sees Birth of First Southern Indian Ocean Season Tropical Storm

The MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Tropical Cyclone 01S on Dec. 5 at 08:18 UTC (3:18 a.m. EST) in the Southern Indian Ocean. Strong thunderstorms are visible around the center as they cast shadows on the lower surrounding clouds.<br>Credit: NASA/NRL <br>

Tropical Cyclone 01S (TC01S) formed today December 5, 2011. TC01S has maximum sustained winds near 55 knots (63 mph/102 kmh) and is rapidly consolidating and organizing, so strengthening is forecast. At 0900 UTC (4 a.m. EST) on Dec. 5, TC01S was located about 545 nautical miles west of the Cocos Islands near 12.2 South and 87.0 East. It was moving to the west at 7 knots 8 mph/13 kmh).

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Tropical Cyclone 01S on Dec. 5 at 08:18 UTC (3:18 a.m. EST) in the Southern Indian Ocean. Strong thunderstorms are visible around the center as they cast shadows on the lower surrounding clouds.

Microwave satellite instruments showed an eye developing in TC01S. There is also tightly curved banding of thunderstorms around the low-level center. T01S has intensified rapidly over the first 12 hours of its existence. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasters expect TC01S to strengthen to hurricane-force over the next two days and track to the southeast, staying at sea.

Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md

Media Contact

Rob Gutro EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.nasa.gov

All latest news from the category: Earth Sciences

Earth Sciences (also referred to as Geosciences), which deals with basic issues surrounding our planet, plays a vital role in the area of energy and raw materials supply.

Earth Sciences comprises subjects such as geology, geography, geological informatics, paleontology, mineralogy, petrography, crystallography, geophysics, geodesy, glaciology, cartography, photogrammetry, meteorology and seismology, early-warning systems, earthquake research and polar research.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Superradiant atoms could push the boundaries of how precisely time can be measured

Superradiant atoms can help us measure time more precisely than ever. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen present a new method for measuring the time interval,…

Ion thermoelectric conversion devices for near room temperature

The electrode sheet of the thermoelectric device consists of ionic hydrogel, which is sandwiched between the electrodes to form, and the Prussian blue on the electrode undergoes a redox reaction…

Zap Energy achieves 37-million-degree temperatures in a compact device

New publication reports record electron temperatures for a small-scale, sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion device. In the nine decades since humans first produced fusion reactions, only a few fusion technologies have demonstrated…

Partners & Sponsors