Tropical Cyclone Japhet (19S) off Mozambique Jeff Schmaltz,
MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC Tropical Cyclone Japhet
(19S) is shown in these true-color Terra and Aqua MODIS images.
On Feb. 26, the storm is swirling in between Mozambique, on the
left, and the island nation of Madagascar on February 26, 2003.
When the first image was acquired, this storm was relatively
young, though it was expected to grow into Category 1 cyclone
(with 75 knot/86 mph winds). At the time this image was
acquired, Japhet was a Tropical Storm with 35-knot winds, which
is just above the threshold for being considered a Tropical
Depression, the lowest level, organized-storm system category.
One interesting feature of Japhet is that it was expected to
move very little over the course of its life: less than 2
degrees latitudinally and just over 6 degrees longitudinally
toward the Mozambique coast.