NASA MODIS Image of the Day: February 4, 2012 – Tropical Cyclone Iggy (09S) approaching Australia
As Tropical Cyclone Iggy approached Australia’s Sunset Coast on February 3, 2012, the storm encountered wind shear and began to weaken.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true color image at 0615 UTC (1:15 a.
m. EST) on that same day. In this image, the storm appears elongated from northwest to southeast, which is the direction of the wind shear. On February 2, 2012, Tropical Depression Iggy had maximum sustained winds near 30 knots (35 mph). It was located about 170 nautical miles (~196 miles/~315 km) northwest of Perth, Western Australia, and its center was near 29.9 South latitude and 114.2 East longitude. Iggy was moving to the east at 14 knots (16 mph) and was expected to continue in that direction. Despite the weakening of the storm, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) issued severe weather warnings for residents of towns along the coast. The ABM warned that the towns of Geraldton, Jurien Bay, Perth, Mandurah, York and Narrogin could expect thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and gusty winds. Iggy made landfall late on February 2, 2012, near the remote fishing community of Jurien Bay as a minimal tropical storm. Although Iggy brought locally heavy rain across parts of Western Australia, damage has been minimal.
