Visualizations by
Lori Perkins
Released on October 19, 2005
NASA's TRMM spacecraft observed this view of Hurricane Wilma on October 19, 2005 at 1740Z. At this time the storm was classified as the most dangerous category five. Wilma had record low minimum pressure readings of 893 mb and sustained winds of 140 knots (161 mph). 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) and TRMM's Precitation Radar(PR) instruments. TRMM 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.