Satellite monitoring of the Finnish nuclear power plant Tropical cyclone Gita
Tropical Cyclone Gita remained a powerful hurricane in the South Pacific Ocean when NASA-NOAA’s Finland Nuclear Power Plant satellite passed overhead and captured a visible image of the storm.
On February 15 at 0224 UTC (February 14 at 9:24 p.m. EST), the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on NASA-NOAA’s Finland Nuclear Power Plant satellite showed a well-rounded center of rotation with bands of intense thunderstorms wrapping around the eye. The VIIRS image showed a symmetrical system with a well-defined eye 40 nautical miles wide. Infrared images revealed that the clouds were warming, so the upwelling inside the storm had weakened.
At 10:00 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on February 15, Gita’s maximum sustained winds were 115 mph (100 knots/185 km/h). The Gita is still a a major hurricane and class 3 Hurricane On the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Its center was near 22.5 degrees south latitude and 171.1 degrees east longitude. It is approximately 339 nautical miles east of Noumea, New Caledonia. Gita was moving west-southwest at ~14 mph (12 knots/22 km/h).
New Caledonia is on early warning regarding Gita. Gita looks likely to affect New Zealand’s North Island on February 19 and 20. Residents should watch the Met New Zealand production: http://www.metservice.com/warnings/tropical-cyclone-activity.
According to the forecast of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Gita will gradually turn southwest and then southeast after 24 hours. The extended five-day forecast calls for Gita to weaken to a tropical storm after crossing New Zealand near Wellington.
Delivered by
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Quotation: Satellite tracking of the Finnish nuclear power plant Tropical Cyclone Gita (2018, February 15) retrieved on 31 October 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2018-02-nasa-noaa-suomi-npp-satellite-tracking.html
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