Edzani Power Up in Clouds and Rainfall

Edzani has become a tropical cyclone as a result of low wind shear and warm ocean temperatures.

TRMM data provided a 3-D look at the cloud heights; temperature and rainfall in Tropical Storm Edzani, revealing a towering cloud near 17 km (10.6 miles) high indicating a strong storm.

Early this morning, January 7, the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Edzani in the South Indian Ocean. The image showed that circulation around the storm has tightened and an eye is now clearly visible, indicating that the storm has strengthened.

Because Edzani continues to be a favorable environment with warm sea surface temperatures over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and low wind shear, the storm is expected to continue intensifying over the next two days before hitting cooler waters.

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Edzani in the South Indian Ocean on Jan. 7 at 0825 UTC (3:25 ET) and an eye is now clearly visible, indicating that the storm has strengthened.

On January 7 at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. ET), Edzani’s center was about 590 nautical miles southeast of Diego Garcia, near 14.6 degrees South and 79.4 degrees East. Edzani is now a Category XX tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, because it’s maximum sustained winds are near 115 mph (185 km/hr) with higher gusts. Edzani is moving southwestward near 5 mph (7 km/hr).