Hurricane Season 2010: Cyclone Giri (Northern Indian Ocean)

Infrared NASA Satellite Imagery Shows the Power of Cyclone Giri

Cyclone Giri rapidly intensified last week before it slammed into the coast of Myanmar, and infrared satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite conveyed its strength.

Infrared imagery from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) indicated Giri's cloud tops had grown very cold, very quickly on Oct. 22 at 0653 UTC (2:53 a.m. EDT) indicating higher thunderstorm heights and a strengthening in the storm. High thunderstorm cloud tops indicate a strong storm. When the thunderstorm cloud heights start dropping, they become less cold, and the thunderstorms are less powerful. Cloud-top temperatures are important because they tell forecasters how high thunderstorms are, and the higher the thunderstorm, the colder the cloud tops and the more powerful the thunderstorms.

When AIRS captured the infrared image of Giri, the eye of the cyclone was clearly visible and still off-shore. The AIRS image also showed that at that time (0653 UTC) the strongest thunderstorms were still mostly over the Bay of Bengal and had not yet moved over land.

Cyclone Giri made landfall in near Hunters Bay, Myanmar on Friday, Oct. 22 with maximum sustained winds near 155 mph, the top end of a Category Four Cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Some newspaper reports indicate that at least 27 people were killed and more were missing. A couple of thousand homes were also reported damaged from Giri. Giri has since dissipated inland.

Text Credit: Rob Gutro

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD