February 18, 2018 - Tropical Cyclone Gita (09P) in the South Pacific Ocean

Tropical Cyclone Gita (09P) in the South Pacific Ocean

On February 14, 2018, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of Tropical Cyclone Gita. At the time this image was acquired, the storm was beginning to weaken from peak strength but retained the shape of a strong storm, with a large eye and thick convective bands wrapped tightly around the center.

Gita developed into a tropical storm on February 9, 2018, and immediately pounded American Samoa. The storm reached tropical cyclone strength on February 10 and then began marching across South Pacific waters that were at their annual peak temperatures. In fact, seas were a full degree Celsius warmer than the long-term average for February, according to Weather Underground.

By February 12, Gita reached Category 4 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale and its eyewall passed directly over the most populated island in the nation of Tonga. Wind speeds reached 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour according to unofficial estimates. According to multiple news reports, at least 1,400 homes on Tongatapu were damaged or destroyed, and the Parliament building in the capital, Nuku'alofa, was flattened. No deaths were reported. Weather Underground reported that while one tropical cyclone affects some part of Tonga each year, Gita is “the strongest on record to make a direct hit on the main island of Tongapatu.”

On February 16, Tropical Cyclone Gita continued to weaken and was located 143 mi (230 km) southeast of Mare Island in New Caledonia while packing maximum sustained winds of about 109 mph (176 km/h). The storm is predicted to continue to weaken as it passes south of the islands of Koutoumo and Pins in New Caledonia heading towards New Zealand. On that same day, beaches in Queensland, Australia reported heavy surf, with waves cresting as high as 8 feet (2.5 meters).

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/14/2018
Resolutions: 1km (1.1 MB), 500m (3.5 MB), 250m (8.4 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC