Publication Date June 23, 2017 | NASA

NASA's IMERG Shows Cindy's Extreme Rainfall

United States

Tropical storm Cindy was downgraded to a tropical depression after moving onshore near the Texas and Louisiana Border on Thursday June 22, 2017. Flooding was reported along the the Gulf Coast even before Cindy made landfall. The rainfall around tropical storm Cindy was asymmetrical. The majority of heavy rainfall with the tropical cyclone was located east of Cindy's center in the states along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana through the Florida Panhandle. The tropical depression continued to spread heavy rain and occasionally severe thunderstorms after it came ashore. Severe thunderstorms spawned a tornado Thursday afternoon that injured four people near Jefferson, Alabama. 

Total rainfall was estimated from June 20 through early June 23, 2017 using precipitation estimates from NASA's Integrated Multi-satelliE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data. IMERG data are produced using data from the satellites in the GPM Constellation, and is calibrated with measurements from the GPM Core Observatory as well as rain gauge networks around the world. This IMERG analysis of rainfall indicates that rainfall totals exceeding 10.5 inches (266.7 mm) occurred in eastern Texas, southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and northwestern Florida. The most extreme rainfall estimated by IMERG was greater than 16 inches (406.4 mm) over the open waters of the Gulf Of Mexico near the Yucatan Peninsula.