NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Jan. 22, 2008

A Fading Funa May Bring Rains and Winds to New Zealand

Credit: NASA/JPL
> Larger image Tropical Cyclone Funa was fading in the southern Pacific Ocean on Jan. 21, 2008, but New Zealand is watching it closely as it's heading in that country's direction.

Funa (also known as cyclone 10F) at 9:00 GMT (4:00 a.m. EST) was located about 520 miles north-northwest of Auckland, New Zealand at 29 degrees south latitude and 171.1 east longitude. Funa has weakened considerably and accelerated southwest to 23 knots (26 mph). Funa recently had maximum sustained winds of 55 knots (63 mph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center notes that Funa will complete extra-tropical transition and continue south as a strong extra-tropical low. New Zealand Meteorological Service strongly advised all residents to monitor the progression of the depression, as it has the potential to bring large amounts of rain and strong winds along the coasts.

This image of Funa was created on Jan. 20 at 14:05 GMT (11:05 a.m. EST) by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite.

This AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the storm. The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth, revealing warmer temperatures (red).

Related link:

> Forecasts from the New Zealand Meteorological Service

Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; Ed Olsen, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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Jan. 17, 2008

Tropical Storm Funa Threatens the Island Nation of Vanuatu

Credit: NASA/JPL
> Larger image On January 16, Tropical cyclone Funa, also known as "12P," formed north of New Caledonia and was moving east-northeast near 8 knots (9 mph), with maximum sustained winds of 35 knots (42 mph).

Funa was located to the west of the island of Vanuatu, near 14.8 degrees south latitude and 166.2 degrees east longitude. Funa's eastern movement threatens to bring heavy rains, coastal flooding and strong winds to Vanautu in the next day.

Vanuatu is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is located approximately 310 miles north-east of New Caledonia and 1,090 miles east of northern Australia.

NASA's Aqua satellite carries the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument, and AIRS captured this image of Tropical Storm Funa on Jan. 16 at14:23 UTC (9:23 a.m. EST).

The AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops and the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops associated with the lingering showers and thunderstorms. Funa's clouds and rains are seen in the large round purple and blue areas.

The infrared signal does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth, revealing warmer temperatures (red). The sharp lines around the rectangular image are the outlying borders of the "picture" AIRS captured.

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