image: On Nov. 25, NASA AIRS infrared data showed that System 02S's strongest thunderstorms (purple) with the potential for the heaviest rains stretched from Daly Waters in the north central part of the territory, east to Borroloola, south to Cape Crawford. view more
Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen
After making landfall near Darwin on Nov. 24, the remnants of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alessia worked its way over to Australia's Northern Territory where it was seen from NASA's Aqua satellite. Aqua passed over the remnant low and captured infrared data on it that revealed that although the low remains disorganized, some strong thunderstorms were over the northwestern coast of the Northern Territory.
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument captures infrared data and can provide scientists with temperature data on tropical cyclones. When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Alessia on November 26 at 0447 UTC/Nov. 25 at 11:47 p.m. EST AIRS captured temperature data on the storm's clouds. AIRS infrared data showed that the strongest thunderstorms with the coldest cloud top temperatures and the potential for the heaviest rains stretched from Daly Waters in the north central part of the territory, east to Borroloola, south to Cape Crawford.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued a Coastal Waters Wind Warning for the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria waters at 11:00 p.m. CST local time on November 26, as the low was moving through the region. The remnants are now an elongated area of low pressure, or trough.
Forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning center noted that animated multispectral satellite imagery showed that the structure of the former tropical cyclone had improved as it moved over the western part of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Radar imagery from Gove, Australia indicated the banding of thunderstorms were fragmented as the low-level center was moving toward the northeastern coast of Australia's Northern Territory.
On November 26 (EST) at 10 a.m. EST, the remnant low was centered about 20 nautical miles/23 miles/37 km of 14.4 south and 136.8 east, about 60 nautical miles/69 miles/111 km south-southeast of Alyangula, Australia. The remnant low is expected to move slowly south before moving west on November 27 and 28 toward the Timor Sea.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center gives the remnants a low chance for regeneration over the next couple of days.
Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center