Projected to weaken over the coming day, Tropical Storm Guillaume was
still going strong in the Indian Ocean in this Moderate-resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image made from
data acquired at 10:20 a.m. local time on Tuesday, February 19, 2002.
Shown here to the northeast of the French island of Réunion in the
southwestern Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar, the outer bands
of the storm clouds are obscuring the island of Mauritius, northeast of
Réunion.
The storm has been tracking slowly south-southeast, and should weaken
as it moves farther south. As of Wednesday morning, February 20, maximum
sustained winds were around 140 miles per hour (mph), with gusts of up
to 167 mph. Waves in the region were as high 24 feet. January and February are the peak
cyclone months in the region, and Mauritius experiences on average about
ten each season.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC