Visualizations by
Lori Perkins
Released on September 22, 2005
NASA's TRMM spacecraft observed this view of Hurricane Rita on September 22, 2005 at 0810Z. At this time the storm was the most destructive category 5 hurricane with a minimum pressure of 898mb, sustained winds of 150 knots, and a 15 nautical mile eye diameter. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner(VIRS) and the GOES spacecraft. The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour.