Earth ID: 3083

NASA Satellite Reveals Heavy Rainfall Patterns in California

Visualizations by Lori Perkins Released on January 12, 2005

The collision of a flow of moisture from Hawaii known as a 'Pineapple Express' and a persistent low pressure system are wreaking havoc on California weather. This movie shows rain accumulation in San Diego from Jan. 6 through Jan. 11 based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)-based Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more). The TRMM satellite, using the world's only spaceborne rain radar and other microwave instruments, measures rainfall over the ocean. In this case instruments were able to reveal rainfall structure resulting from storms 'riding' the actual Pineapple Express extending toward Hawaii, which is beyond the range of conventional land-based National Weather Service radars.

In early 1995, a Pineapple Express hit California, contributing to a season of winter storms that killed 27 people and did $3 billion in damages and costs. A Pineapple Express in mid-October 2003 wreaked havoc from south of Seattle to north of Vancouver Island. Flooding forced more than 3,000 people from their homes.

January 7, 2005 . This image shows 27 hours of accumulated rainfall. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more).

January 8, 2005 . This image shows 51 hours of accumulated rainfall. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more).

January 10, 2005 . This image shows 99 hours of accumulated rainfall. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more).

January 11, 2005 . This image shows 123 hours of accumulated rainfall. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more).

January 9, 2005 . This image shows 75 hours of accumulated rainfall. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more).

Color Table for accumulated rainfall. Green shows up to 50 millimeters (~2 inches) and red shows up to 225 millimeters (~9 inches).

For More Information

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/ca_rains.html

Visualization Credits

Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Jeff Halverson (JCET UMBC): Scientist

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, Hal Pierce (NASA/SSAI)

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3083

Mission:
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission - TRMM

Data Used:

GTOPO30

Model - USGS

view all stories where this data set is used

TRMM and DMSP/SSM/I and TMI/3B4XRT also referred to as: 3-hour Rainmap

2005/01/06-11

http://cics.umd.edu/~msapiano/PEHRPP/3b42rt.html

view all stories where this data set is used

Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of these series:
Rainfall
TRMM

Goddard TV Tape:
G2005-003

Keywords:
DLESE >> Atmospheric science
SVS >> Los Angeles
DLESE >> Natural hazards
SVS >> San Diego
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Precipitation >> Rain
GCMD >> Location >> California
SVS >> La Conchita
SVS >> Mudslide
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0