November 25, 2014 - Tropical Cyclone Adjali (01S) in the western Indian Ocean

Tropical Cyclone Adjali (01S) in the western Indian Ocean

The first named tropical cyclone of the 2014-1015 Southern Indian Ocean cyclone season formed late on November 16 , about 300 miles from Diego Garcia. Named Adjali, the short-lived storm was a heavy rainmaker, but stayed well offshore and had minimal humanitarian impact.

By 1800 UTC (1:00 p.m. EST) on November 17, Tropical Storm Adjali’s winds reached peak strength at 69 mph (111 km/h). The storm sustained these winds until the afternoon of November 18, when increasing wind shear began to impact the storm. After that, Adjali began to weaken as its track curved to the southwest. Late on November 19 the atmospheric conditions around Tropical Cyclone Adjali became hostile as wind shear increased and tore the storm apart. At 2100 UTC (4:00 p.m. EST) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued their final bulletin on Tropical Storm Adjali. At that time, the center was located near 13.3 south latitude and 70.0 east longitude, or about 400 nautical miles south-southwest of the island of Diego Garcia. It was moving to the west-northwest at 4.6 mph (7.4 km/h) and had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (64 km/h).

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) that flies aboard NASA’s Terra satellite flew over the storm at 5:35 UTC (12:35 a.m. EST) on November 18, and acquired this true-color image. Strong thunderstorms concentrate around Adjali’s cloud-filled center, and a long band of thunderstorms extend south of the center, giving the appearance of a “tail”.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 11/18/2014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC