Strong wind and heavy rain battered Sydney and other areas of Australia’s New South Wales from April 20-22, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image of the storm on April 21.
A news report in The Guardian cited David Elliott, the New South Wales emergency services minister, who called the storm a “once-in-a-decade” event. The story noted that some areas saw winds that reached 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour and rainfall amounts of about 300 millimeters (12 inches) within 24 hours. As a result of the storms and flooding, 12 areas were declared natural disaster zones.
Further Reading
- The Guardian (2015, April 21) Three die as ‘once-in-a-decade’ storms lash Sydney and surrounding regions. Accessed April 22, 2015.
- The Sydney Morning Herald (2015, April 22) Sydney storm: 12 areas declared natural disaster zones. Accessed April 22, 2015.
- The Sydney Morning Herald (2015, April 21) Sydney weather: Another wild night predicted. Accessed April 22, 2015.
References & Resources
NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). Caption by Kathryn Hansen.
