NASA MODIS Image of the Day: December 12, 2011 – Tropical Cyclone Alenga
Tropical Storm Alenga formed over the Indian Ocean on December 5, 2011, and strengthened into a cyclone two days later.
On December 8, 2011, the U.
S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Alenga was located roughly 400 nautical miles (740 kilometers) south-southeast of the Cocos Islands. Alenga had maximum sustained winds of 80 knots (150 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 100 knots (185 kilometers per hour). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on December 8, 2011. Although a central eye is barely discernible, Alenga bears the spiral shape characteristic of strong storms. The storm reached peak intensity on that same day, as a Category 3 Tropical Cyclone then began to be affected with high wind shear. This interaction caused Alenga to weaken rapidly. On December 9, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported that the storm had weakened below tropical cyclone intensity.
