The southwest Indian Ocean cyclone season started on November 15, 2017 and will officially end on April 30, 2018. A tropical cyclone called Fakir formed on April 23 near northeastern Madagascar and the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite looked at the storm’s rainfall rates.
Fakir is expected to intensify as it moves toward the southeast and could be a significant tropical cyclone tomorrow. This cyclone season has already seen Madagascar battered and drenched by tropical cyclones Ava, Dumazile, and Eliakim.
The GPM core observatory satellite flew above the forming late season tropical cyclone near northeastern Madagascar on April 22, 2018. The satellite’s Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments revealed the locations of heavy rainfall associated with the forming tropical cyclone. GPM showed that bands of extremely heavy rainfall were spiraling into the tropical low’s southeastern side. GPM’s radar (DPR Ku Band) showed that precipitation was falling at a rate of over 219 mm (8.6 inches) per hour in some of the strong convective storms that were moving toward Madagascar.
Read more at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Image: On April 22, GPM showed that bands of extremely heavy rainfall were spiraling into the tropical low’s southeastern side. GPM’s radar (DPR Ku Band) showed that precipitation was falling at a rate of over 219 mm (8.6 inches) per hour in some of the strong convective storms that were moving toward Madagascar. GPM’s radar indicated that a few of the tallest intense convective storms were reaching heights of almost 16 km (9.9 miles). (Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce)
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