Tropical Storm Fred
Animation of Tropical Storm Fred via GPM on August 30, 2015 at 0236 UTC.
The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission core satellite passed over Tropical Storm Fred as it was developing in the Eastern Atlantic early August 30th and saw "hot towers" in the storm, which hinted that the storm was intensifying.
Fred became the first Cape Verde hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season when it was upgraded from a tropical storm on August 31, 2015 at 0600 UTC (2 a.m. EDT). The GPM core observatory satellite flew over on August 30, 2015 at 0236 UTC when Fred was forming from a tropical wave that moved off the African coast. Rainfall was measured by GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) at the extreme rate of close to 128 mm (5.0 inches) per hour. Rainfall in towering convective storms at Fred's center of circulation were providing the energy necessary for intensification into a hurricane. Three dimensional reflectivity data from GPM's DPR showed that these "hot towers" had storm top heights reaching to 16.2 km (10.0 miles).
A "hot tower" is a tall cumulonimbus cloud that reaches at least to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately 9 miles/14.5 km high in the tropics. These towers are called "hot" because they rise to such altitude due to the large amount of latent heat. Water vapor releases this latent heat as it condenses into liquid. Those towering thunderstorms have the potential for heavy rain. NASA research shows that a tropical cyclone with a hot tower in its eyewall was twice as likely to intensify within six or more hours, than a cyclone that lacked a hot tower.
Print resolution still of Tropical Storm Fred's surface precipitation amounts.
Print resolution still of Tropical Storm Fred's precipitation amounts both on the ocean surface and in the 3D structure of the storm. Precipitation colors ranging from green to red are liquid precipitation amounts. Precipitation colors in shades of blue are frozen precipitation.
Print resolution side view of Tropical Storm Fred showing it's height and width.
Color bar for frozen precipitation rates (ie, snow rates). Shades of cyan represent low amounts of frozen precipitation, whereas shades of purple represent high amounts of precipitation.
Color bar for liquid precipitation rates (ie, rain rates). Shades of green represent low amounts of liquid precipitation, whereas shades of red represent high amounts of precipitation.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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Visualizer
- Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Scientists
- Gail Skofronick Jackson (NASA/GSFC)
- George Huffman (NASA/GSFC)
- Dalia B Kirschbaum (NASA/GSFC)
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Producers
- Rani Gran (NASA/GSFC)
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA)
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Writer
- Rob Gutro (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Friday, September 4, 2015.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:49 PM EDT.
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
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Rain Rates (Surface Precipitation) [GPM: GMI]
ID: 822Credit: Data provided by the joint NASA/JAXA GPM mission.
See all pages that use this dataset -
Volumetric Precipitation data (Ku) [GPM: DPR]
ID: 830Credit: Data provided by the joint NASA/JAXA GPM mission.
See all pages that use this dataset
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.