NASA still sees some high thunderstorms in Tropical Cyclone Fobane
Tropical Cyclone Fobane was located southeast of Reunion Island in the southwest Indian Ocean when the TRMM satellite passed over and captured rainfall and cloud data on the storm. TRMM saw that despite Fobane weakening, there was still some punch left in a few of the thunderstorms within.
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite passed over Fobane on February 11, 2014 at 0035 UTC. Fobane was very small but contained a few powerful convective thunderstorms near the tropical cyclone's center of circulation. TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) measured rain falling at a rate of over 68 mm/~2.7 inches per hour.
TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) instrument data was used to create a 3-D image of the storm. Those data found a few of the powerful storms near FOBANE's center were reaching heights of over 14 km/~8.7 miles.
At 0900 UTC/4 a.m. EST on February 11, Fobane's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 45 knots/51.7 mph/83.3 kph. Fobane was far from land areas and centered near 24.5 south and 66.9 east, about 602 nautical miles/692.8 miles/1,115 km east-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. Fobane is moving to the south-southwest at 9 knots/10.3 mph/16.6 kph and is expected to continue weakening.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Fobane to dissipate over the next day or two.
Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
