On October 24, the GPM Core Observatory passed directly over the eye of Super Typhoon Yutu.
This was a rare overpass of the super typhoon just as it made landfall on the islands of Tinian and Saipan.
Yutu is tied with Super Typhoon Mangkhut for the strongest tropical storm of 2018.
Yutu is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.
Typical of such a strong storm, the eyewall is nearly uniform around the eye.
GPM also saw a "moat" of low precipitation surrounding the eyewall.
The eyewall is particularly tall with few hot towers, indicating a relatively mature storm.
Peeling back the layers of Yutu reveals the most intense precipitation at low altitudes.
[beeping, music]