TRMM Sees Tropical Depression Forming

TRMM image of tropical depression forming near Mexico

The TRMM satellite passed over an area of low pressure in the eastern Pacific Ocean south of Mexico on 7 July 2011 at 0234 UTC. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida upgraded this area of low pressure to a tropical depression at 1500 UTC ( 08:00 AM PDT) making it the third tropical depression in the eastern Pacific this hurricane season. Conditions are expected to be favorable for the depression to become a tropical storm within the next couple days.

The rainfall analysis from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data was overlaid on an infrared image from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS). This analysis shows that there were only a few areas of moderate to heavy rainfall associated with the developing tropical depression at the time of this TRMM orbit.