MIMIC Total Preciptable Water (TPW) Fields (from this site), below, for the 24 hours ending 1300 UTC on 26 December 2023, show the Samoan Islands (at 13-14oS, ~172oW) in the middle of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) that stretches east-southeastward across the South Pacific. Pago Pago has received more than 20″... Read More

Airmass RGB imagery every hour from 1000 UTC on 14 December through 1900 UTC on 15 December, below, overlain on top of GOES-18 Level 2 Total Preciptable Water, show strong convection in between Tutuila and the Manu’a islands of American Samoa mostly ending after 0000 UTC on 15 December, but... Read More

Sentinel-1A’s overpass over the Gulf of Tehuantepec shortly after 0000 UTC on 13 December, shown above in a toggle with topography, corresponded with the beginning of an event of strong winds (colloquially called a “Tehuantepecker”) cause by funneling of wind through the Chivela Pass in the Sierra Madre mountains. At... Read More

Target Sector (2.5-minute interval) JMA Himawari-9 AHI Red Visible (0.64 µm) and Clean Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (above) showed the brief development of a ragged eye with Cyclone Jasper as the storm approached the coast of Far North Queensland, Australia — prior to it making landfall north of Cairns around 1200 UTC on 13... Read More