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Cyclone Ami Devastates Fiji

This dramatic image captures the narrow swath of heavy rain deposited by Cyclone Ami in the southwestern Pacific. The image was created using data from the NASA/NASDA Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and other rainfall measuring satellites. Cyclone Ami passed through the Fiji Island chain and caused extensive damage from flooding rains, high winds and storm surge. This seven day accumulation shows that nearly 20 inches of rain fell along portions of the storm track. The cyclone was the worst storm to strike Fiji since 1987.

Cyclone Ami was born in south Pacific waters as part of a vigorous "twin cyclone" system straddling the equator. These twin cyclones are occasionally spawned by the Tropical Intraseasonal Oscillation as it moves eastward out of the Indian Ocean and toward the International Dateline. The larger image of the central Pacific shows the rain accumulation from these two cyclones. The long trail of heavy rain oriented from north to south was produced by Cyclone Ami. The northern vortex of the pair, yet to be assigned an official name, was being monitored for development as it moves into the open waters of the northwestern Pacific.