NASA MODIS Image of the Day: December 1, 2011 – Tropical Cyclone Five (05A) over the Arabian Sea
Strong wind shear was pushing Tropical Cyclone 05A apart as NASA’s Terra satellite passed over the Arabian Sea, on November 30, 2011, allowing the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard that satellite to capture this true-color image.
The imagery shows the central apostrophe shape of a tropical cycle still relatively intact, while the clouds and showers stretch to the north and west of center.
The storm developed from an area of disturbed weather southwest of the Cape Comorin of India and became a Tropical Cyclone on November 26. It tracked to the northwest and strengthened briefly before encountering heavy wind aloft, and began to weaken. At 03:00 UTC on Nov. 30 (10 p.m. EST, Nov. 29) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued their final advisory on Tropical Cyclone 05A. At that time, it was about 485 nautical miles (558 miles/898 km) south-southeast of Karachi, Pakistan near 17.5 North latitude and 63.8 East longitude. 05A’s maximum sustained winds were still holding at 35 knots (40 mph/65 kmh) but wind shear was battering and weakening the storm. 5A was moving westward at 11 knots (13 mph/20 kmh). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) has forecast Tropical Storm 5A to turn to the southwest on December 1 as a result of a shortwave trough (elongated area of low pressure) that will push it in that direction. The trough will steer Tropical Storm 05A away from the Oman coast, and it is expected to dissipate by late in the day.
