The TRMM satellite passed above a developing tropical cyclone in the northern Indian Ocean west of Indonesia on May 9, 2013 at 2211 UTC. This image shows that tropical cyclone 01B was already fairly well organized. TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) instrument indicated that rainfall was falling at a rate over 178 mm/hr (~5.8 inches) in an area of strong convection in the middle of the forming tropical cyclone. The tropical cyclone is a little unusual because it formed only 4.8 degrees north of the equator. Coriolis force, an artifact of the earth's rotation, is weaker near the equator so tropical cyclones are not expected to form nearer that 5 degrees to the equator.

 

Tropical cyclone 01B is predicted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center to move northward into the Bay of Bengal in the the next few days. 01B is predicted to the be a powerful tropical cyclone with winds of about 90kts (~103 mph).

This second view shows the 3-D structure of the forming tropical cyclone. A few powerful convective storms were found by TRMM PR to reach to heights of over 17km (~10.6 miles) near the forming storm's center of circulation. Radar reflectivity values of over 54dBZ were returned to TRMM PR from very heavy rainfall located in the same stormy area.

 

Click here to see a TRMM Precipitation 3-D flyby Quicktime animation of cyclone 01B.

 

Click here to see a TRMM Precipitation 3-D flyby MPEG animation of cyclone 01B.