NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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This night-time image from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite was captured on Feb. 21 at 22:23 UTC. The image shows the eye of Cyclone Haruna had elongated from northwest to southeast as a result of wind shear. Credit: Univ. of Wisconsin/NASA/NOAA

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This infrared image from Feb. 24 at 2141 UTC (4:41 p.m. EST) was taken by the AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The AIRS image shows former Cyclone Haruna blowing apart several hundred miles south of La Reunion Island. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen Infrared NASA Data Shows Cyclone Haruna Being Blown Away

Ex-cyclone Haruna is expected to dissipate in the Southern Indian Ocean under increasing wind shear in the next day or two. Infrared imagery from a NASA satellite shows that Haruna is being blown apart several hundred miles away from La Reunion Island.

Wind shear has been a problem for Haruna for days. A night-time image from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite taken on Feb. 21 at 22:23 UTC showed the eye of Cyclone Haruna had elongated from northwest to southeast as a result of wind shear. For more information about the Suomi NPP satellite, visit: www.nasa.gov/npp.

On Sunday, Feb. 24, Haruna was centered near 27.2 south and 54.1 east, about 370 nautical miles (425.8 miles/682.5 km) south-southwest of La Reunion Island. Haruna's maximum sustained winds were near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph) and the storm was moving to the east-southeast at 16 knots (18.4 mph/29.6 kph). An infrared image of Haruna captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite showed the bulk of the clouds and rainfall were pushed south of the center. The storm was being battered by wind shear and that was pushing the main precipitation away from the center and elongating the storm.

On Feb. 24 at 2141 (4:41 p.m. EST), an infrared image from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed former Cyclone Haruna blowing apart several hundred miles south of La Reunion Island. AIRS showed that cloud top temperatures had warmed, indicating that cloud heights had dropped and the storm no longer had the strength in uplift that it previously had. For more information about AIRS, visit: http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued their final advisory on the cyclone on Feb. 24. By Feb. 25 at 0000 UTC (7 p.m. EST/U.S. on Feb. 24) Tropical Cyclone Haruna had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40.2 mph/64.8 kph). It was centered near 27.0 south latitude and 57.5 east longitude, about 360 nautical miles south-southwest of La Reunion Island and was moving to the east-northeast at 15 knots (17.2 mph/27.7 kph). Haruna is being battered by wind shear and is expected to dissipate over the next couple of days.

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

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February 22, 2013

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The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 22 at 1105 UTC (6:05 a.m. EST). Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

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This night-time image revealed Cyclone Haruna's massive eye before it made landfall. This image was taken from the VIIRS instrument that flies aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite. The image was taken on Feb. 20 at 2242 UTC (5:42 p.m. EST/U.S.) and shows a clear eye, surrounded by very powerful thunderstorms. Credit: Univ.of Wisconsin/NASA/NOAA Cyclone Haruna Makes Landfall in Madagascar

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Cyclone Haruna after it made landfall in southwestern Madagascar.

Haruna's center made landfall near Manombo, Madagascar around 0600 UTC (1 a.m. EST/U.S.) The METEO-7 satellite captured a visible image of Haruna at the time of landfall and showed that its eye had already become cloud-filled.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 22 at 1105 UTC (6:05 a.m. EST) after it moved inland and its eye was completed cloud-filled. MODIS imagery revealed that the size of the eye was smaller since the storm made landfall.

As a result of its interaction with land, Haruna's maximum sustained winds dropped to 80 knots by 1200 UTC (7 a.m. EST) on Feb. 22. Haruna's cloud-filled eye was centered near 23.3 south latitude and 44.2 east longitude, about 300 nautical miles southwest of Antananarivo, the capital and largest city in Madagascar. Haruna was moving to the south-southeast at 7 knots and dropping heavy rainfall along its path.

Radar at 10:30 a.m. EST (15:30 UTC) showed that Haruna's rainfall extends from the town of Belo Tsiribihina on Madagascar's west-central coast, east to the city of Fianarantsoa, and to the town of Taolagnaro on the southeastern coast.

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted that as Haruna keeps moving over land, the effects of friction (the storm dragging over the land) will continue weakening the circulation.

Once Haruna moves back into the waters of the Southern Indian Ocean it will encounter cooler waters than helped fuel it in the Mozambique Channel. Haruna will also experience increasing wind shear from mid-latitude westerly winds that will weaken the storm further. The JTWC expects Haruna to weaken to a remnant low pressure area by sometime on Feb. 25 over the Southern Indian Ocean.

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

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February 21, 2013

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The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 21 at 0735 UTC (2:35 a.m. EST). Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team NASA Sees Cyclone Haruna Set its Eye on Madagascar

Residents of southwestern Madagascar were experiencing gusty winds, heavy rainfall and rough surf as Cyclone Haruna approaches for landfall on Feb. 21. NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of the storm that shows a clear and wide eye as the storm neared the southwestern coast of the island nation.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 21 at 0735 UTC (2:35 a.m. EST) that showed a well-defined eye with deep convective banding of thunderstorms wrapping around the center.

At 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on Feb. 21, Haruna had maximum sustained winds near 100 knots (115 mph/185.2 kph). Haruna was centered near 22.3 south latitude and 42.1 east longitude, about 350 nautical miles (402.8 miles/648.2 km) southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar, which lies far to the north of the storm. Haruna is already close enough to the southwestern coast, however, that thunderstorms and sustained winds near 30 mph (48.2 kph) were already being experienced.

It was moving very slowly at 3 knots (3.4 mph/5.5 kph) in a northeasterly direction, but is expected to turn to the southeast.

At 10:30 a.m. EST on Feb. 21, a weather station in Morombe, Madagascar, on the southwestern side of the island, reported thunderstorms with sustained northerly winds near 29 mph (46.6 kph). The local forecast calls for rainfall amounts up to 3.6 inches (91.4 mm) just on Feb. 21 as Haruna approaches.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) now forecasts a more inland track for Cyclone Haruna over southwestern Madagascar. The forecast calls for landfall Feb. 21 around 12 UTC (7 a.m. EST) and exit into the Southern Indian Ocean on the southeastern side of the island as a cyclone, about 24 hours later on Feb. 22.

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

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February 20, 2013

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The TRMM satellite flew above Haruna on Feb. 20 at 0717 UTC. Some powerful storms Haruna's northern edge showed rainfall over 108 mm (~4.25 inches) per hour and cloud tops as high as 14.25 km (~8.85 miles). View video below to see a simulated flight above tropical storm Haruna. Credit: Hal Pierce/SSAI/NASA Three NASA Satellites See Wide-Eyed Cyclone Haruna

Cyclone Haruna strengthened into a cyclone and quickly developed an eye that became apparent on visible and infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite. NASA's TRMM satellite analyzed Haruna's heavy rainfall, and NASA and NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a night-time image that verified the strongest areas of the storm.

On Feb. 20 at 1111 UTC (6:11 a.m. EST/U.S.) the AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this infrared image of Tropical Cyclone Storm Haruna. The area of strongest thunderstorms circled the eye and had cloud top temperatures colder than -63F (-52C). Those cold cloud top temperatures indicated strong storms with heavy rainfall, which was verified by NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies with AIRS aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 20 at 1115 UTC (6:15 a.m. EST) that revealed its large eye.


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The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 20 at 1115 UTC (6:15 a.m. EST). Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

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On Feb. 20 at 1111 UTC (6:11 a.m. EST/U.S.) the AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this infrared image of Tropical Cyclone Storm Haruna. The area of strongest thunderstorms appear in purple, where cloud top temperatures were colder than -63F (-52C), and circle the large eye (yellow). Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen

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This false-colored infrared night-time image from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite on Feb. 19 at 2303 UTC shows Cyclone Haruna's coldest cloud top temperatures (white) were north of the center. Credit: NASA/NOAA/Univ. of Wisconsin Madison NASA's TRMM satellite flew above intensifying tropical storm Haruna on February 20, 2013 at 0717 UTC (2:17 a.m. EST). A rainfall analysis was created using data from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments overlaid on a combination visible/infrared image from the Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS). The analysis showed that Haruna had become much better organized since Feb. 19 and developed intense bands of rainfall circling the cyclone's center. Some rain in powerful storms on the northern edge of Haruna's center was found by TRMM PR to be falling at a rate of over 108 mm (~4.25 inches) per hour.

NASA's TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) was used to create a 3-D image that sliced through tropical storm Haruna's center. TRMM data showed that towering thunderstorms on the northern edge of Haruna's center were over 14.25 km (~8.85 miles) high.

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured infrared night-time data of Cyclone Haruna on Feb. 19 at 2303 UTC (2 a.m. local time Madagascar on Feb. 20). The data was false-colored at the University of Wisconsin Madison and showed the coldest cloud top temperatures and heaviest rainfall north of the center of circulation, verifying NASA's TRMM satellite data.

At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) on Feb. 20, Haruna reached hurricane (or cyclone)-force with maximum sustained winds near 70 knots (80 mph/129.6 kph). Haruna is centered near 22.1 south latitude and 40.7 east longitude, about 400 nautical miles (460 miles/741 km) west-southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Haruna is moving to the west at 4 knots (4.6 mph/7.4 kph) and generating 25-foot-high (7.6 meter-high) waves.

Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect Haruna to make a brief landfall near Androka in the southwestern part of Madagascar as the storm heads southeast into the open waters of the southern Indian Ocean.

Text Credit: Rob Gutro/Hal Pierce
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md./SSAI

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February 19, 2013

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The sixteenth Tropical cyclone of the Southern Indian Ocean season formed in the Mozambique Channel, and the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 19 at 0745 UTC. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

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On Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 the AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured these infrared images of the development of Tropical Storm Haruna. The area of strongest thunderstorms appear in purple, where cloud top temperatures were colder than -63F (-52C). The image on Feb. 19 shows that the band of thunderstorms east of the center became fragmented. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen NASA Saw Tropical Storm Haruna Come Together

Tropical Storm Haruna came together on Feb. 19 in the Southern Indian Ocean and two NASA satellites provided visible and infrared imagery that helped forecasters see the system's organization.

A low pressure area called System 94S developed on Friday, Feb. 15 in the northern Mozambique Channel. Over the course of four days System 94S became more organized and by Feb. 19 it became Tropical Storm Haruna.

On Tuesday, Feb. 19, Tropical Storm Haruna had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40.2 mph/64.8 kph). Haruna was located in the Mozambique Channel, near 21.4 south latitude and 40.9 east longitude, about 375 nautical miles (431.5 miles/694.5 km) west-southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Microwave satellite imagery from the AMSU-B instrument confirmed the location of Haruna's low-level center. Haruna is moving south at 5 knots (5.7 mph/9.2 kph).

Infrared imagery from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument taken on Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 showed the development of Haruna from a depression into a tropical storm. AIRS imagery on Feb. 19 indicated that the low-level circulation center was well-defined and symmetrical. The area of strongest thunderstorms appeared around the center of circulation and in a band of thunderstorms around the south and east of the center where cloud top temperatures were colder than -63F (-52C). The AIRS data on Feb. 19 also showed that the band of thunderstorms east of the center became fragmented over eastern Madagascar.

An instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, also known as "MODIS" captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 19 at 0745 UTC (2:45 a.m. EST). The image showed the center of Haruna over the southern Mozambique Channel, between Mozambique on the African mainland to the west, and the island nation of Madagascar east. Haruna's eastern bands of thunderstorms were draped over Madagascar bringing showers, thunderstorms and gusty winds to the island.

The MODIS image was created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

According to forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), the organization that forecasts tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean, Haruna is being guided by a low-to-mid-level subtropical ridge (elongated area) of high pressure and is expected to continue moving south until a low pressure area turns the tropical storm southeast.

Forecasters at the JTWC expect that Haruna will intensify over the next day or two and make a brief landfall over southern Madagascar. Haruna is expected to re-emerge into open ocean and vertical wind shear is forecast to increase with the low pressure area, weakening the storm.

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