Tropical Cyclone Edzani formed over the Southern Indian Ocean in early January 2010 and intensified rapidly, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. As of January 7, 2010, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 knots (185 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 125 knots (230 kilometers per hour). The storm’s center was roughly 590 nautical miles (1,100 kilometers) southeast of Diego Garcia
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of Edzani over the open ocean at 1:55 p.m. Calcutta time (8:25 UTC) on January 7, 2010. In this image, Edzani has a well-defined eye surrounded by spiral arms extending hundreds of kilometers from the storm’s center.
The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
