December 8, 2013 - Tropical Cyclone Alessia (02S) over Australia

Tropical Cyclone Alessia (02S) over Australia

The first storm of the Australian region's cyclone season threatened Australia’s Top End in late November, 2013.

The system was first noted on November 20 as a low pressure area in the Indian Ocean. By November 22, the storm was named as Category 1 Tropical Cyclone Alessia. Alessia made landfall near Darwin, Australia as a weak tropical storm early on November 24, and the final warning from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) was issued at 0900 UTC (4:00 a.m. EST) that same day.

Alessia regained Tropical Cyclone status on November 27, and made landfall in the Northern Territory at that strength before quickly weakening. By November 28 Alessia had nearly dissipated, but the remnants made one more unsuccessful attempt to strengthen. By December 2 the storm was considered completely dissipated.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Tropical Cyclone Alessia in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria on November 27. About four hours before this image was captured, at 900 UTC (4 a.m. EST) Alessia’s maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (62 km/h), and the storm’s center was located near 15.9 south latitude and 137.8 east longitude, or about 120 miles (194.5 km) west-northwest of Mornington Island, Australia.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 11/27/2013
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC