July 26, 2016 - Tropical Storm Darby (05E) over the Hawaiian Islands

Tropical Storm Darby (05E) over the Hawaiian Islands

On July 23, 2016, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of Tropical Storm Darby over the Hawaiian Islands. The cloud-filled center of the storm was pushing towards the Big Island (Hawaii Island) while thinner convection (storm) bands covered most of the islands.

According to Hawaii News Now, Darby made landfall on the island of Hawaii the afternoon of July 23 about 10 mi (16 km) east-northeast of Pahala, bringing with it drenching rains, strong winds and high surf. The storm weakened quickly as it slammed against Hawaii’s mountainous terrain and moved over the Big Island in just a few hours. While Oahu did not take a direct hit, the storm dropped up to 8 inches (25 mm) of rain on eastern Oahu in about 3 hours on July 24, according to weather reports. Flooding was reported in both Hawaii and Oahu as a result of Tropical Storm Darby, with power outages affecting parts of Hawaii on July 23.

On July 25 Darby had weakened to a tropical depression, but continued to carry heavy rain and create pounding surf as it brushed by the island of Kauai.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 7/23/2016
Resolutions: 1km (1 MB), 500m (3.6 MB), 250m (8.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC