April 23, 2014 - Tropical Cyclone Jack (24S) in the South Indian Ocean
A short-lived but severe storm, Tropical Cyclone Jack had reached full potential on April 21, 2014 when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite flew overhead and captured this true-color image.
Tropical Cyclone Jack formed on Sunday, April 20, near 13.4 S and 91.1 E, then began moving to the south at about 7 mph (11 km/h). Jack strengthened quickly and hours after its birth the storm already had maximum sustained winds near 63 mph (102 km/h).
On April 21 at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Tropical Cyclone Jack was moving through the Southern Indian Ocean with maximum sustained winds near 86.3 mph (138.9 km/h). Jack was far from land - about 398.0 m (641 km) southwest of Cocos Island. Jack was moving to the east-southeast at 11.5 mph (18.5 km/h). The storm peaked that same day as a Category 3 storm on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) scale, and earned the title of Severe Tropical Cyclone.
Jack faced strong vertical wind shear and cold sea surface temperatures late on April 21, which caused dramatic weakening – the storm dropped from a Category 3 to a Category 1 in just 12 hours. By April 22, Tropical Cyclone Jack weakened below cyclone intensity. At 2:00 p.m. WST (local time), the BoM reported the ex-tropical cycle was located near 17.9S and 95.2E, or about 410 mi (660 km) southwest of Cocos Island. It is expected to dissipate quickly, although gale force winds may persist in the southwest quadrant of the system for a short time.