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Severe thunderstorms produced heavy rains over parts of southeasternAustralia as well as numerous cloud-to-ground lightning that resultedin several people being struck. High pressure off of the east coastof Australia pumped warm humid air southward down from the tropicsahead of an advancing cold front, a scenario favorable for thunderstormdevelopment. The TRMM-based, near-real-time Multi-satellitePrecipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centershows rainfall totals for the period November 29-December 3, 2003.
Widespread 1 to 3 inch (25 to 76 millimeters) amounts are shown from western New South Walesinland to near Melbourne and Canberra along the southeast coast (greenareas). Locally heavier accumulations for the period appear north-northwest of Melbourne in red (8.8 inches, or 225 millimeters). Overlaid on the rainfall totals arelightning data from the TRMM Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). Theclusters of white dots indicate areas of lightning activity observed byLIS during a single TRMM overpass on December 3, 2003. These include cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground, and intracloud flashes.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency NASDA.
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Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC)
