Cyclone Nathan Circles Back

Cyclone Nathan Circles Back

Cyclone Nathan located in the Coral Sea off Australia's Queensland coast has made another loop and is again headed slowly toward the Cape York Peninsula. Rainfall derived from the TRMM satellite's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments is shown with data collected on March 18, 2015 at 0758 UTC.

 

Cyclone Nathan Circles Back

The heaviest rainfall was measured by TRMM PR falling at a rate of over 119 mm (4.7 inches) on the eastern side of Nathan's eye. TRMM PR data were used in this 3-D view of cyclone Nathan. Storm heights in a rain band circling Nathan's northwestern side were found reaching heights of over 16km (9.9 miles). Those data also showed that storm tops in Nathan's eye wall were reaching heights of over 13km (8 miles). Towering thunderstorms like these near a tropical cyclone's eye can be an indication of future intensification.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) predicts that Nathan will intensify and have maximum sustained wind speeds of about 85kts (98 mph) tomorrow while heading slowly westward toward the Cape York Peninsula.