Super Typhoon Songda

[tabatha]

Heavy Rainfall Seen in Super Typhoon Songda

Super Typhoon Songda reached maximum sustained winds of 161 mph on May 26 making it a category 5 Typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it passed east of Luzon, the Philippines. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured a look at its rainfall on May 27, 2011 at 0710 UTC (3:10 a.m. EDT) when it had weakened back to a still-powerful Category 4 Typhoon. Super typhoon Songda contained bands of extremely heavy rainfall with numerous powerful thunderstorms. The red areas represent heavy rainfall (falling at about 2 inches/50 mm per hour). The yellow and green areas are moderate rainfall, falling at a rate between .78 to 1.57 inches (20 to 40 mm) per hour. Sondga is now headed toward Kadena Air Base island and is forecast to skirt mainland Japan's east coast this weekend.

For updates, go to NASA's Hurricane page at: www.nasa.gov/hurricane.

Image Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce
Text Credit: NASA, Rob Gutro

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5765699772