Tropical Storm Olga: Three Times a Lady, and Another Australian Landfall Coming

NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Olga at 11:29 p.m. EST Jan. 28 and the AMSR-E instrument measured the winds on Olga’s eastern side to be around 34 mph or 30 knots (in red), just before she strengthened back to tropical storm status.

Just like 1980s song by the Commodores, “Three Times a Lady,” Olga has become a tropical storm for the third time in northern Australia. NASA satellite imagery showed that Olga’s center moved back into the warm waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria and it has regained strength.

NASA’s Aqua satellite saw Olga’s center re-entering the Gulf early on January 29, and satellite imagery indicated the storm was strengthening.

Residents of the northern coastal areas in Australia’s Northern Territory and Queensland are again under tropical cyclone warnings and watches, now that Olga is back in the Gulf. Olga isn’t expected to stay in the Gulf more than a day, however, before it makes landfall near Normanton, Queensland on January 30.

A Cyclone Warning remains in effect for coastal and island communities from the Northern Territory/Queensland border to Kowanyama extending inland to Croydon in Queensland.

Tropical Storm Nisha Being Battered by Wind Shear

TRMM captured Nisha’s rainfall on Jan. 28 at 1947 UTC (2:47 p.m. ET). The rainfall is occurring from the south to northeast of the storm’s center. The yellow and green areas indicate moderate rainfall between .78 to 1.57 inches per hour. Red areas are heavy rainfall at almost 2 inches per hour.

Nisha is not expected to maintain its tropical storm status this weekend, because it is being battered by wind shear.

At 10 a.m. ET, January 29, Tropical Storm Nisha was barely hanging onto its status as a tropical storm, with maximum sustained winds near 39 mph (35 knots). It was located 150 nautical miles west-northwest of Rarotonga, near 19.8 South and 161.9 West. It was moving east-northeast near 11 mph.

TD11S Going Extra-Tropical

On Jan. 29 the TRMM satellite noticed light showers (green/yellow) continues to wrap into TD11S’s low-level center from the southwest quadrant of the storm. Note the area devoid of rainfall is the opening in the circulation on the northwestern side of the storm.

Tropical Depression 11S (TD 11S) had maximum sustained winds near 34 mph (30 knots) on January 29 at 09:00 UTC (4 a.m. ET). It was located about 320 nautical miles southeast of La Reunion Island, near 25.5 South and 59.8 East. It was moving southeast near 11 mph (10 knots).

Tropical Depression 11S Forms in the Southern Indian Ocean

At 11:20 p.m. ET January 27, TRMM captured Tropical Depression 11S’s rainfall, as it was centered east of La Reunion Island. Although most of the rainfall was light to moderate (yellow and green) there were some areas of heavy rain of over 2 inches per hour (red).

At 4 a.m. ET (09:00 UTC) on January 28, Tropical Depression 11S (TD 11S) had maximum sustained winds near 39 mph (35 knots). It was located about 180 nautical miles east of La Reunion, near 21.7 degree South latitude and 58.9 degrees East longitude. TD 11S is moving southward near 6 mph (5 knots).

La Reunion Island is a French island located in the Southern Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and about 120 miles southwest of the island of Mauritius.

At 11:20 p.m. ET January 27, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM satellite captured Tropical Depression 11S’s rainfall, as it was centered east of La Reunion Island. Although most of the rainfall was light to moderate there were some areas of heavy rain of over 2 inches per hour.

Depression 10P Strengthen into Tropical Storm Nisha

At 6:35 a.m. ET January 28, TRMM captured Tropical Storm Nisha’s rainfall. The storm has strengthened quickly and there are many areas within the storm that have rainfall rates of over 2 inches per hour (red). The green and yellow areas indicate light to moderate rainfall (.78-1.69 inches per hour).

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite is managed by both NASA and the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA. At 11:35 UTC (6:35 a.m. ET) today, January 28, TRMM flew over Nisha and captured an image of the storm’s rainfall. The storm has strengthened quickly and there are many areas within the storm that have rainfall rates of over 2 inches per hour. TRMM also noticed that the highest cloud heights on the thunderstorms on the northeast quadrant of the storm are as high as 6 miles (10 kilometers).