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Cyclone Debbie makes landfall in Queensland, Australia

By Scott Bachmeier •

Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images [click to play animation]

Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images [click to play animation]

Cyclone Debbie formed in the Coral Sea on 22 March 2017, and eventually intensified to a Category 3 storm (ADT | SATCON) as it moved southward toward Australia. Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above) showed the eye of Debbie as it was making landfall in Queensland, near Prosperpine (YBPN).

Landsat-8 false-color, with Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Landsat-8 false-color, with Himawari-8 Visible (0.64 µm) and Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images [click to enlarge]

The Landsat-8 satellite made an overpass of the eye at 2358 UTC (above), as a large convective burst had developed within the northern semicircle of the eyewall (which was also evident in the corresponding Himawari-8 Visible and Infrared Window images viewed using RealEarth).

Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) and GMI Microwave (85 GHZ) Images around 1430 UTC on 27 March [click to enlarge]

Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) and GMI Microwave (85 GHZ) Images around 1430 UTC on 27 March [click to enlarge]

Debbie was undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle as the storm center approached the coast — this was evident in Microwave (85 GHz) images from GMI at 1425 (above) and SSMIS at 2017 UTC (below) from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site.

Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) and DMSP-18 SSMIS Microwave (85 GHz) images around 2017 UTC on 27 March [click to enlarge]

Himawari-8 Infrared Window (10.4 µm) and DMSP-18 SSMIS Microwave (85 GHz) images around 2017 UTC on 27 March [click to enlarge]

The MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below; also available as an MP4 animation) showed copious tropical moisture associated with Cyclone Debbie, which led to rainfall accumulations as high as 780 mm (30.7 inches) — with rainfall rates up to 200 mm (7.9 inches) per hour — and record flooding along the coast from Brisbane to Lismore.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to play animation]

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to play animation]

 

 

 

Categories: DMSP, Heavy rain / flooding, Himawari-8, Landsat, RealEarth, Tropical cyclones