Real-time coverage of severeStorms event — SEVEN-26 — Pandita Data.
⛈️ OPEN LIVE 3D WEATHER ALERTSA severe tropical convective system is developing over Micronesia at coordinates 12.9°N, 143.1°E as of 18 June 2026, bringing organized thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts and flash flood potential across the central Pacific region. Real-time satellite data confirms deep convection and rapidly rotating updrafts characteristic of supercell formation, with sustained winds exceeding 50 knots and isolated gusts forecast to reach 60+ knots. Island communities across Chuuk, Pohnpei, and surrounding atolls face immediate risk from lightning strikes, microbursts, and short-duration heavy rainfall that may overwhelm drainage systems in low-lying areas.
This storm system develops where warm equatorial Pacific waters (sea surface temperature ~29–30°C) fuel deep atmospheric instability, allowing thunderstorm updrafts to penetrate 12–16 km into the troposphere. Wind shear from the trade wind convergence zone creates rotating mesocyclones within the storm complex; these tight circulation cores produce severe downdrafts and damaging surface winds through an evaporative cooling process known as a rear flank downdraft (RFD), where rain-cooled air accelerates downward and spreads outward at the surface.
Pandita Data ingests NOAA satellite infrared and microwave brightness temperature data in real time to identify convective cores and estimate updraft intensity; cloud-top temperatures below –60°C confirm severe thunderstorm development. Radar reflectivity profiles from regional weather stations reveal hail signatures and strong vertical velocity shear, feeding nowcast models that predict 2–4 hour wind and rainfall evolution.
Damaging Winds: Microbursts and downdrafts can exceed 70 km/h, destroying structures and uprooting coconut palms. Flash Floods: Rainfall rates of 50–100 mm in 30–60 minutes overwhelm atoll drainage and cause saltwater intrusion. Lightning: Over 20 cloud-to-ground strikes per minute in severe cores; high fatality risk in open terrain.
Track real-time storm development, wind field evolution, and rainfall forecasts using Pandita Data's live weather simulation, which updates every 15 minutes with satellite and radar data from the central Pacific.