NASA MODIS Image of the Day: February 10, 2012 – Tropical Cyclone Jasmine (10P) off Vanuatu and New Caledonia
By February 8, 2012, Tropical Cyclone Jasmine had traveled eastward past the island of New Caledonia, traveling towards the island of Anatom, Vanuatu.
The eye of the storm passed about 40-50 miles to the southwest of Anatom, but the island was raked by winds clocked as high as 75 miles per hour.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image at 22:45 UTC on February 8 (9:45 a.m. local time on February 9), 2012. Satellite data showed that the eye of this storm reached about 20 nautical miles (23 miles/37 km) in diameter on that same day. Jasmine’s maximum sustained winds reached nearly 135 mph, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. It affected 325,000 people with winds above 39 mph and relatively few people with winds of hurricane strengths (74 mph or higher). According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, as of February 9 the eye continues to hold at 20 nautical miles, and the storm is still strong. However, there is a slight weakening trend and this is expected to continue as Jasmine moves into less favorable conditions over the next several days.
