Typhoon IN-FA's Extreme Rainfall Measured By GPM

Typhoon IN-FA's Extreme Rainfall Measured By GPM

Typhoon IN-FA's peaked as a category four tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of about 115 kts (132 mph) on November 21, 2015. IN-FA's winds had decreased to about 90 kts (103.5 mph) when the GPM core observatory satellite flew over on November 23, 2015 at 1555 UTC. Measurements by GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument indicated that IN-FA was dropping rain at an extreme rate of over 266 mm (10.5 inches) per hour in storms just to the northwest of the typhoon's eye.

Typhoon IN-FA's Extreme Rainfall Measured By GPM

GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) were used to show the 3-D structure of powerful convective thunderstorms that were producing these extreme rainfall amounts. A few of these tall thunderstorms were found to reach altitudes of over 18 km (11.2 miles).

Images and caption by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC)