Tropical Cyclone Ian was skirting Fiji when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image at 2:55 p.m. (1:55 Universal Time) on January 9, 2014. The storm had winds of 85 knots (157 kph or 98 mph), making it the equivalent of a category 2 hurricane. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast that Ian would intensify over the next 24 hours as it moved east and south toward Tonga.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.
