Tropical Cyclone Phet brought not just strong winds but also heavy rains to the Arabian Sea, the Arabian Peninsula, and the coast of Pakistan in late May and early June 2010. This color-coded image shows both rainfall amounts and the storm track for Phet from May 31 to June 6, 2010. The storm track appears in shades of peach, coral, and red. The rainfall amounts appear in shades of blue and green.
Phet reached its greatest intensity off the coast of Oman on June 3. After making landfall in Oman, Phet dissipated somewhat, but remained organized enough to move back over the Arabian Sea toward Pakistan. The heaviest rainfall amounts—600 or more millimeters (24 or more inches)—were measured off the coast of Oman, south of where the storm reached its greatest intensity. Lighter rainfall amounts were measured near the coasts of Oman, Iran, and Pakistan. Although winds were slower and rainfall was lighter over land, the storm still caused substantial damage along coastlines. Agence France-Prese reported that Phet caused 15 deaths in Oman and four more deaths in Pakistan.
This image is based on data from the Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis produced at Goddard Space Flight Center, which estimates rainfall by combining measurements from many satellites and calibrating them using rainfall measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite.
References & Resources
- ReliefWeb. (2010, June 6). Cyclone Phet hits Pakistan's coastline. Accessed June 7, 2010.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using near-real-time data provided courtesy of TRMM Science Data and Information System at Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
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