The GPM core observatory satellite had a good early morning look at newly formed tropical storm Ulika on September 27, 2016 at 5:26 AM HST (1526 UTC). Ulika was located in the central Pacific Ocean less than 975 nautical miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. GPM found that Ulika contained some very powerful convective storms and a well defined center of circulation. GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) discovered that some strong convective storms inside the tropical storm were dropping precipitation at a rate of over 187 mm (7.4 inches) per hour.

A GPM radar slice through the center of tropical storm Ulika found that several powerful convective storms near the center of circulation were reaching altitudes higher than 15 km (9.3 miles). Ulika is predicted to move toward the north-northeast over the open waters of the central Pacific and intensify slightly for a couple days.