Satellite Image of Tropical Cyclone Ita Making Landfall in Queensland, Australia

Here is the latest satellite image of the tropical cyclone Ita that is making landfall in Queensland, Australia on the Eastern Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, today, April 11, 2014. The image was captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite.

Ita officially made landfall at Cape Flattery about 9:00 p.m. local AEST time as a Category 4 storm according to reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer that flies aboard Aqua captured an image of the Category 4 storm on April 11 at 12:00 a.m. EDT (4 a.m. UTC). Satellite imagery indicates the eye is 9.2 miles wide (8 nautical miles, or 14.8 km).

On April 11 at 5 a.m. EDT (9 a.m. UTC), Tropical Cyclone Ita had maximum sustained winds near 143.8 mph (125 knots, or 231.5 kph). It was centered near 14.8 degrees south latitude and 145.3 degrees east longitude, about 168 miles (146 nautical miles, or 288 km) north of Cairns, Australia, and has tracked south-southwestward at 10.3 mph (9 knots, or 16.6 kph). Ita is moving around a subtropical ridge (elongated area) of high pressure and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Ita to start curving to the southeast around that ridge in the next day before heading back out into the Coral Sea.

SOURCE NASA