JPSS SDOC JPSS PGRR - Satellite-based Disaster Outreach Coordinator (SDOC)

Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold continues to be a very intense storm. At 1200Z on 9 April 2020, Cyclone Harold had estimated winds of 120knt winds (~138mph) with gusts of 145kts, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

This is equivalent to a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. At approximately 1304Z on 8 April 2020, NOAA-20 again had a near nadir overpass of Harold as it was just to the southeast of Viti Levu. While still a strong tropical cyclone, as can be seen in the high resolution I05 (11μm) imagery, it is much more ragged than previous several days. One thing of note is that it appear that there is a potential dry slot on the western side of the circulation.

The full moon (100% illumination), again provided enough ample moonlight to show the visible features of the storm A lot of the same features seen in the I05 (11μm) imagery from NOAA-20 could be seen in the DNB visible imagery. One interesting to note is that the 11μm appears to have a small eye within the large circulation while the DNB imagery was covered by cirrus.

This is more prevalent in the zoomed in imagery, as seen below

Unlike the last couple days, the AMSR2 instrument only saw the extreme eastern convective bands of Harold and was not able to observe the inner part of the storm. However, the ATMS instrument on NOAA-20 did provide some more insight as to the inner part of the storm. As can be seen, unlike previous days, the convection it not completely surrounding the circulation.

It is also worth noting that the warm intrusion is in the same orientation and location as the possible dry slot in the IR imagery.

The 1500Z forecast graphic from the JTWC continues to show that Harold will continue to move off to the southeast before weakening.

As mentioned previously, there has been significant devastation seen on the island of Espiritu Santo as well as Viti Levu. Unfortunately, as the extent of the damage becomes clear, it is expected that humanitarian assistance will be hampered due to the ongoing CoVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions on travel to Vanuatu.