NASA satellite imagery revealed that Tropical Cyclone Kyarr has maintained its eye, although that eye has become cloud-filled.
On Oct. 30, the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Terra satellite provided a visible image on Kyarr as it tracks through the Arabian Sea. The MODIS image showed that the storm maintained an eye, but it had become filled with high clouds. The eye also appeared somewhat oblong, indicating that the storm is weakening. Large feeder bands, that is, bands of powerful thunderstorms that spiral into the low-level center, extended north and south of center.
The shape of the storm is a clue to forecasters that a storm is either strengthening or weakening. If a storm takes on a more rounded shape it is getting more organized and strengthening. Conversely, if it becomes less rounded or elongated, it is a sign the storm is weakening.
After the MODIS image was taken, a microwave satellite image revealed the defined oblong microwave eye feature, but the bulk of the deep convection (strong thunderstorms) were confined to the eastern semicircle.
Read more at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Image: On Oct. 30, the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite took this image of Tropical Cyclone Kyarr in the Arabian Sea. The storm maintained an eye, although clouds filled it in. (Credit: NASA Worldview)