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Cyclone Gati makes landfall in Somalia

By Scott Bachmeier •

EWS-G1 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

EWS-G1 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

US Space Force EWS-G1 Visible (0.63 µm) images (above) showed Category 2 Cyclone Gati as it made landfall along the east coast of Somalia on 22 November 2020. The tropical cyclone rapidly intensified (ADT | SATCON) as it moved westward across the North Indian Ocean (through a corridor of low wind shear).

EWS-G1 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images (below) revealed cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures in the -70 to -80ºC range as the eye was forming after 02 UTC. The eye of Gati opened quickly, but then collapsed and became cloud-filled shortly before landfall. It bears mentioning that in the historical record there are no tropical cyclones of Hurricane intensity making landfall in Somalia.

EWS-G1 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

EWS-G1 Infrared Window (10.7 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]


EWS-G1 Water Vapor (6.5 µm) images (below) also showed the apparent merger of 2 convective clusters — in addition to their brief Fujiwhara-type rotation — prior to Gati’s intensification and the formation of an eye.

Categories: EWS-G1, Tropical cyclones