Unnamed tropical storm 02B came ashore along the northwest coast of Burma (Myanmar) on the 19th of May 2004 bringing with it strong winds and heavy rains. The system formed in the northern Bay of Bengal on May 17, and moved east as a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds estimated at 60 knots (69 mph) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center as it crossed the coast of Burma. The system came ashore near the port city of Sittwe not far from the border with Bangladesh.
The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global tropics. MPA rainfall totals for the region surrounding the northern Bay of Bengal are shown for the period 12-19 May 2004. Up to 20 inches of rain (darkest red areas) fell over the foothills and southern slopes of the Himalayan Mountains over northeastern Indian and Bhutan and along the north east coastline of the Bay of Bengal over far western Burma and southern Bangladesh. The heavy rain over western Burma and southern Bangladesh was a direct result of tropical storm 02B, while most of the heavy rain farther north along the slopes of the Himalayas was a result of low pressure centered over northern India and Nepal drawing moisture up from the Bay of Bengal earlier in the period.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
References & Resources
Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC).
