video: Tropical Cyclone Harold became an extra-tropical cyclone on April 10, but on April 4, when it was a Category 4 cyclone, the most powerful yet of 2020, it made landfall on the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. Just prior to the landfall, the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite captured data on the storm which was used to model the storm in 3-D. Data revealed the storm was about 10 km high (6.2 miles) and about 200 km (125 miles) wide.
This animation provides a view of precipitation in 3-D from GPM's Dual- frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and surface rain rates (mm/hr) from GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) of Cyclone Harold in the South Pacific on April 6, 2020. The camera pushes in to reveal the inner precipitation rates of the storm.
Tropical Cyclone Harold developed from a low pressure system that was observed to the east of Papua New Guinea last week, and has tracked to the southeast, where it has already caused flooding and loss of life in the Solomon Islands. Early reports from Vanuatu indicate heavy flooding and property damage. Harold is forecast to continue to Fiji later this week.
Credit: Credit: NASA Goddard/Scientific Visualization Studio Visualizers: Greg Shirah, Kel Elkins, Alex Kekesi