Cyclone Thane - Thru the eyes of NASA earth observatory ... http://ow.ly/8iSXB

Terrifying Simulation of Hurricane Katrina ... http://ow.ly/8iSWU

Cyclone Thane - Thru the eyes of NASA earth observatory

Tropical Storm Thane formed over the Indian Ocean on December 25, 2011. By December 28, Thane had strengthened into a cyclone and was headed toward southern India. On December 28, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Thane was located roughly 270 nautical miles (500 kilometers) southeast of Chennai. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 knots (120 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 80 knots (150 kilometers per hour). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on December 28, 2011. Thane lacks a distinct eye but still sports the spiral shape characteristic of strong storms. Skies are clear over Chennai but storm clouds extend over other parts of the Indian coast. The JTWC forecast that Thane would continue moving toward the west, making landfall south of Chennai on December 30.

 Cyclone Thane came ashore in southeastern India in late December 2011, killing at least 47 people, flattening homes, destroying crops, and leaving tens of thousands in need of emergency aid. Some aid workers feared that Thane may have caused more property and infrastructure damage in the region than the tsunami that struck in 2004. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on December 29, 2011. The center of the storm spins just off the coast of southeastern India, and clouds extend over India and Sri Lanka. Thane formed as a tropical storm on December 25, 2011, and strengthened into a cyclone by December 28. When the storm made landfall, it brought high winds and tidal surges. Thane knocked out power in many areas, disrupted drinking-water supplies, and blocked roads with uprooted trees.

Terrifying Simulation of Hurricane Katrina

This dramatic visualization of hurricane Katrina masterfully captures the monster storm for a period of 1.5 days as it gathers strength over warm ocean waters.

Scientists at the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications crunched terabytes of data gathered by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, to help create an amazing simulation. It creates an appropriate sense of foreboding for the impending disaster. Bulbous clouds gather moisture and deadly winds gain power as they travel across the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico, about to wreak havoc on New Orleans. The colored lines trace the storm's 150 mph winds and represent air rising and falling: rapidly rising air is yellow, sinking air is blue. As time passes the sun, moon, and stars come into view and change positions.

The video is an excerpt from what must be a phenomenal and humbling planetarium film calledDynamic Earth, which explores how the Earth's climate works. The more peaceful marine biosphere excerpt and the abyssal volcano one are also very much worth watching.

Some showers forecast for S. Tamilnadu till 10-Jan and beyond !

Due to W.D.. Minimum temperature would rise by 2 to 3 C over parts of northwest and adjoining central
India during next 2 days

At 0530 hours IST of today, fog/dense fog has observed over some parts of
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar  and Sub­Himalayan West Bengal.

Today a strong W.D has started to affect N,N-W Kashmir, Punjab and Himachal .. http://ow.ly/i/p0Gz

Another strong cold wave expected after 8-Jan for N, N-W and Central India

chennai - touched a max of 31.0 C (11:05am) and a low of 23.2 C (5:33am)