Super-Typhoon Utor

Four NASA satellites provided data on Super-Typhoon Utor before and after the storm made landfall in the Philippines. Satellite imagery from NASA’s Aqua, Terra, TRMM and CloudSat satellites captured information about the powerful Super-Typhoon on Aug. 11 and 12. Image © NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

That data was used by forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center before and after Utor hit the Philippines.

On Sunday, Aug. 11 at 0719 UTC (3:19 a.m. EDT) NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured rates of heavy rainfall around the storm’s center and western quadrant near 1.4 inches per hour. At that time, Utor’s rainfall had already started spreading over the northern and central Philippines.
The MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of Typhoon Utor leaving the Philippines on Aug. 12 at 02:55 UTC (10:55 p.m. EDT/Aug. 11) when its center was near the Lingayen Gulf on the country’s western side.

NASA’s CloudSat satellite captured a sideways view of Super-Typhoon Utor that sliced through the storm’s center on Aug. 11 just before the system hit the Philippines. Cloudsat revealed large amounts of liquid and ice water were abundant at middle and lower levels of the storm system, which were an indication of the storm’s strength.