TRMM

TYPHOON MAEMI

This image of Typhoon Maemi was taken by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite as it was getting organized in the western Pacific about 900 miles east of the northern Philippines. At the time of this overpass, 18:41 UTC on 7 September 2003, Maemi was classified as a Category 1 typhoon by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center with winds estimated at 75 mph. The image gives a top down view of the storm with rainfall rates from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) in the inner swath and the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) in the outer swath overlaid on TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) data (white areas). It shows that Maemi has a partial eyewall, indicative of a storm still not yet fully organized, but with intense rain rates of over 2 inches per hour on the eastern side of the center (semicircular dark red area) that are releasing heat energy into the core of the storm. TRMM images like this are providing a rare glimpse as to how the eyewall actually comes together in a developing storm.