This detailed view from Copernicus Sentinel-3 shows Cyclone Errol moving towards the coast of Western Australia.
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Errol was a powerful tropical cyclone that formed as a tropical storm in early April 2025 and rapidly intensified while moving towards northern Australia, reaching Category 1 to Category 5 in 30 hours.
On April 16, when this image was acquired by Sentinel-3’s Ocean and Land Color instrument, Erole reached its peak intensity with wind gusts of 285 km/h. The distinctive pinhole eye – a small, well-defined eye that is often associated with powerful and rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones – is clearly visible in the image.
Despite its intensity, Errol rapidly weakened over the next day as it moved towards Australia. It limited its impact and damage on land to heavy rainfall in remote areas of the coast of the Kimberley region, visible in the cloud-free portion at the bottom of the image.
Tropical cyclones originate over warm oceans. When they form in the Northern Hemisphere, they are called hurricanes or typhoons, while those that form in the Southern Hemisphere are called cyclones.
Earth-orbiting satellites can provide indispensable updated information on such events that cover entire regions, as shown here from Copernicus Sentinel-3. The width of the storm in this image is estimated to be more than 500 km. The mission is designed to measure, monitor, and understand large-scale global dynamics and provide essential information for ocean and weather forecasting in near real time.
