June 29, 2017

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

NASA observes Tropical Storm Dora dissipating rapidly

By early Wednesday, June 28, the only thing left of Dora's circulation was low to mid-level clouds and very little rain (blue area), just in the southwestern quadrant. Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce
× close
By early Wednesday, June 28, the only thing left of Dora's circulation was low to mid-level clouds and very little rain (blue area), just in the southwestern quadrant. Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce

Two days of satellite imagery from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite showed that Dora, formerly a hurricane, went from generating moderate rainfall to barely any rainfall.

The GPM core observatory satellite again flew over Hurricane Dora on June 27, 2017 at 1631Z. Dora was moving over cooler ocean waters and was starting to rapidly dissipate.

On June 27, convection, rising air that forms thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone, was absent in most of Dora's southeastern side. Dora's low level center of circulation had become exposed to outside winds. On that day, GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) showed that rain was still coming down at a rate of up to 2.66 inches (67.8 mm) per hour in a small area of the storm. A day later, the system was barely generating rain.

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) were used to uncloak the 3-D structure of precipitation within rapidly dissipating Dora on June 27. On that day, the DPR showed tallest storm tops within Dora were reaching altitudes of 5.9 miles (9.5 km).

Early Wednesday, June 28, GPM data revealed that the only thing left of Dora's circulation were low to mid-level clouds and very little rain.

In this 3-D flyby animation from June 28, GPM radar found tallest storm tops within Dora to be reaching altitudes of 5.9 miles (9.5 km). Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce

By June 29 at 4:47 a.m. EDT (08:47 UTC), the National Hurricane Center or NHC said that the remnant low of Dora is centered near 21 degrees north latitude and 116 degrees west longitude, over the open waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The remnant low pressure area had a central pressure of 1010 millibars.

NHC said that the low pressure area will dissipate by Friday, June 30.

On June 27, NASA/JAXA's GPM showed rain was still coming down at a rate of up to 2.66 inches (67.8 mm) per hour in a small area, in the southwestern quadrant of Tropical Storm Dora. Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce
× close
On June 27, NASA/JAXA's GPM showed rain was still coming down at a rate of up to 2.66 inches (67.8 mm) per hour in a small area, in the southwestern quadrant of Tropical Storm Dora. Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce
Load comments (0)