April 15, 2015 - Tropical Cyclone Joalane (22S) in the Indian Ocean

Tropical Cyclone Joalane (22S) in the Indian Ocean

On April 11, 2015 at 5:40 UTC (1:40 a.m. EDT) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a true-color image of Tropical Cyclone Joalane near its maximum strength. At the time the image was captured, the storm had an open eye, and the bulk of clouds and thunderstorms were located southwest of the center.

The cyclone became a Tropical Storm on April 6, spinning up in the Southern Indian Ocean about 460 miles (743 km) northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. The storm tracked west-southwestward as it strengthened, reaching Category 2 status on April 11. The maximum sustained winds peaked at 104 mph (167 km/h) at 06:00 UTC (2 a.m. EDT) that same day.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued their final bulletin on Joalane on April 12, when maximum sustained winds dropped to about 63 mph/102 km/h). Joalane was moving to the south-southwest at 15 mph (24.0 km/h) and transitioning into an extra-tropical storm. At the time, it was 668 nautical miles east-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius near 25.8 south latitude and 67.7 east longitude.

On April 13, extra-tropical storm Joalane continued to move into an area of cooler sea surface temperatures and increased vertical wind shear and passed into tropical cyclone history. The system stayed well away from populated areas, and the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) reported that no people were affected by the storm’s winds.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 4/11/2015
Resolutions: 1km (1.2 MB), 500m (3.8 MB), 250m (8.8 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC