NASA's Sees a Tightly Wound Typhoon Banyan

Satellite imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed powerful storms tightly would around Typhoon Banyan's center as it moved through the Pacific Ocean.On Aug. 14 at 02:06 UTC (Aug. 13 at 10:06 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a visible look at Banyan. The visible image showed a tight concentration of strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation, but no eye was visible. However, microwave satellite imagery did reveal an eye.

Wildfires Continue to Beleaguer Western Canada

Like tourist season, wildfire season is also in full swing in British Columbia.  Whereas tourists are welcomed to the Canadian province, wildfires are not.  In British Columbia alone there are close to 500 wildfires active to date.  Most of these wildfires are located in three general areas--in the Caribou Fire Centre located in the Frasier Plateau directly north of Vancouver, in the Kamloops Fire Centre in the Thomas Plateau, which is east of Whistler, and the Southeast Fire Centre which is east of Kamloops.  All current fires of note can be viewed on this interactive map:  http://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a1e7b1ecb1514974a9ca00bdbfffa3b1 Wildfires in British Columbia are common at this time of year due to rising temperatures, however, this year is the third worst year in the region for forest fires.  To date 840 fires have broken out since April 1 of this year.  Although it started slow, 2017 is shaping up to be a record breaking fire season if not for numbers of fires, then for the sheer amount of hectares burned.  In an area where rainfall is the norm, to have days and weeks without rainfall is unusual and helps to create a hot, dry environment with plenty of underbrush that fires use as fuel.  

GOES Satellite Sees Tropical Depression 09E Form

The Eastern Pacific Ocean has been recently generating a lot of tropical cyclones. Tropical Depression 09E just formed off the southern coast of Mexico and was captured in imagery from NOAA’s GOES-East satellite.Tropical Storm Fernanda has moved into the Central Pacific Ocean, while Tropical Storm Greg, which just absorbed the remnants of Tropical Depression 8E continues to strengthen in the Eastern Pacific.

NASA Notes 9th Northwestern Pacific Tropical Cyclone

The ninth tropical depression of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean has formed and developed into a tropical storm. Tropical Storm Kulap was spotted by NASA’s Terra satellite far to the west of Midway Island.

NASA Sees Tropical Cyclone Ernie Intensify

The storm formerly known as tropical cyclone 15S, now called Tropical Cyclone Ernie continued to strengthen as NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image that showed the storm developed an eye.

NASA Spots Sub-Tropical Storm 11S Still Swirling

Once a tropical storm, now a sub-tropical storm, the remnants of the tropical low pressure area formerly known as 11S was spotted by NASA's Aqua satellite, still spinning in the Southern Indian Ocean.On March 14 at 2230 UTC (6:30 p.m. EST) the remnants of Tropical Cyclone 11S were located near 29.8 degrees south latitude and 52.4 degrees east longitude, about 530 nautical miles south-southwest of La Reunion Island.

NASA Sees Wind Shear Affecting Tropical Cyclone 11S

Tropical Cyclone 11S appeared elongated in NASA satellite imagery as a result of the storm being battered by wind shear.When NASA's Terra satellite flew over Tropical Cyclone 11S on March 10 at 0515 UTC (12:15 a.m. EST) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument took a visible light picture of the storm. The image revealed that the storm has been stretched out by moderate vertical wind shear.

NASA Examines Deadly Spring-Like Weather With GPM Satellite

Rainfall from spring-like downpours in the U.S. from February 25 to March 1 were analyzed at NASA using data from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM satellite.Record breaking warm temperatures this winter have caused plants to bloom early in the eastern United States. Unfortunately this has also resulted in the formation of spring-like severe thunderstorms and deadly tornadoes. Multiple tornado sightings were made in three of the last seven days. On Saturday February 25, 2017 destructive tornadoes were reported in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

NASA Study Improves Forecasts of Summer Arctic Sea Ice

The Arctic has been losing sea ice over the past several decades as Earth warms. However, each year, as the sea ice starts to melt in the spring following its maximum wintertime extent, scientists still struggle to estimate exactly how much ice they expect will disappear through the melt season. Now, a new NASA forecasting model based on satellite measurements is allowing researchers to make better estimates.Forecasts of how much Arctic sea ice will shrink from spring into fall is valuable information for such communities as shipping companies and native people that depend on sea ice for hunting. Many animal and plant species are impacted directly by changes in the coverage of sea ice across the Arctic. Uncertain weather conditions through spring and summer make the forecasting of Arctic sea ice for a given year extremely challenging.

New Data from NOAA GOES-16's Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) Instrument

The new Space Environment In Situ Suite (SEISS) instrument onboard NOAA’s GOES-16 is working and successfully sending data back to Earth.A plot from SEISS data showed how fluxes of charged particles increased over a few minutes around the satellite on January 19, 2017. These particles are often associated with brilliant displays of aurora borealis at northern latitudes and australis at southern latitudes; however, they can pose a radiation hazard to astronauts and other satellites, and threaten radio communications.