NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Joaninha affecting Mauritius

Visible imagery from NASA's Terra satellite showed Tropical Cyclone Joaninha as it moved through the Southern Indian Ocean triggering warnings in the island nation of Mauritius.

Mauritius is an island nation, known for its beaches, lagoons and reefs. It is located to the northeast of Reunion Island.

The Mauritius Meteorological Services (MMS) issued several warnings on Joaninha. On March 26 a Strong wind and High Wave warning were in effect for Rodrigues valid until 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

MMS noted "The intense tropical cyclone Joaninha evolving to the east of Rodrigues is causing strong southerly winds to blow over the island. Gusts may reach 100 kph (62mph) in places. The cyclone is also generating heavy swells of the order of 5 to 7 meters (16 to 23 feet) which are influencing the sea state around Rodrigues. Also storm surge will cause a rise in the sea water level of about 1.5 meters (5 feet) above the normal tides which will result in the inundation of low lying coastal areas particularly to the east, south and south-west."

On March 26, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite provided a visible image of Joaninha. Joaninha had a 15 nautical-mile wide eye surrounded by powerful thunderstorms. Bands of thunderstorms spiraled into the center of circulation from the eastern quadrant.

On March 26 at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) Joaninha had maximum sustained winds near 115 knots (132 mph/213 kph). Joaninha was centered near 19.6 degrees south latitude and 65.2 degrees east longitude. That's about 86 nautical miles (99 miles/ 159 km) east of Port Mathurin, Mauritius

Joaninha is moving through an area of warm waters, which will continue to fuel it. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that the wind shear, outside winds that can affect a storm at different altitudes, was light, so it will not affect the storm on its track to the south for the next day or two.