Extreme Weather News

Over the past week extreme rainfall caused flooding that resulted in the deaths of four in Haiti and the evacuation of over 2500 people in the Dominican Republic. The GPM core observatory satellite saw a line of heavy rainfall on the eastern side of the Dominican Republic when it flew over on May 8, 2016 at 0428 UTC. GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments collected data that were used to estimate rainfall. This precipitation is shown on a top-down satellite view. Powerful storms were measured dropping rain at a rate of almost 300 mm (11.8 inches)

Severe spring thunderstorms frequently spawned tornadoes from the Gulf Coast north and eastward during the past seven days. From April 25 to May 2, 2016 there were over 67 tornadoes in the United States reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Many of these tornadoes were located in an area that includes the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. This area of the Great Plains has been labeled Tornado Alley due to the many tornadoes that occur there this time of year. Gulf moisture clashing with frontal systems moving over the United States provided much

Severe spring thunderstorms frequently spawned tornadoes from the Gulf Coast north and eastward during the past week. Gulf moisture clashing with frontal systems moving over the United States provided much of the fuel for intense showers and severe thunderstorms. Flash flooding was often the result of the sudden onset of extremely heavy rainfall. Over 305 mm (12 inches) of rain was reported in southern Mississippi in a few hours one morning on April 28, 2016. NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data were used to estimate the amount of rain that fell from April 22-29

As expected, tropical cyclone Fantala reversed course and moved southeastward almost directly over it's earlier track. The tropical cyclone's intensity also fluctuated. Maximum winds dropped significantly as Fantala moved southeastward but have rebounded somewhat today. The GPM core observatory satellite flew over the tropical cyclone on April 19, 2016 at 1346Z when winds had dropped to about 95 kts (109 mph). At that time GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) found that Fantala still contained extremely heavy rainfall in storms spiraling into the tropical

A slow-moving frontal system associated with a stagnant upper-air pattern set the stage for heavy rains and flooding early this week from East Texas all the way up through the Central and Northern Plains. The hardest hit region was in and around the Houston area. On Monday, the National Weather Service reported that Houston International Airport broke its all time daily rainfall record with 9.92 inches of rain. Elsewhere in Harris County, over 17 inches of rain was recorded as of Monday evening. The main culprit was a stationary upper-level low pressure center spinning over the Central Rockies