Two NASA Satellites Analyze Hurricane Humberto's Clouds and Rainfall
The MODIS instrument aboard Aqua captured this visible image of Humberto when it was a tropical storm on Sept. 10 at 11:20 a.m. EDT. The Cape Verde Islands are seen to the right of Humberto and a strong band of thunderstorms were wrapping into the center from the storm's west.
Image Credit:
NASA
Two NASA satellites passed over the hurricane in the Eastern Atlantic on Sept. 10 gathering information about the environment of Hurricane Humberto. NASA's Aqua satellite gathered infrared and visible data on Humberto's clouds while NASA's TRMM satellite measured the rainfall rates occurring from those clouds. Humberto is the first hurricane of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season.
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite called TRMM had an excellent daytime view of strong Humberto on September 10 at 1636 UTC/12:36 p.m. EDT. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. rainfall derived from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data were overlaid on a combination visible/infrared image from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS) to provide a picture of rainfall rates within the storm. TRMM PR found that the heaviest rainfall associated with Humberto was not near the center of circulation but in convective storms west of the storm. TRMM saw rainfall rates of up to 2 inches/50 mm per hour in the large band of thunderstorms west of Humberto's center. At that time, Humberto was a tropical storm with highest winds near 55 knots (~63 mph).
In this satellite flyby animation, NASA's TRMM satellite passed over Humberto on Sept. 10 and measured rainfall rates of up to 2 inches/50 mm per hour (red) in the large band of thunderstorms west of Humberto's center.
Image Credit:
SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Hurricane Humberto and analyzed the storm in infrared light using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder known as AIRS and visible light using the MODIS instrument. AIRS gathered data on Sept. 11 at 03:29 UTC/Sept. 10 at 11:29 p.m. EDT and revealed cloud cloud-top temperatures in excess of -63F/-52C in thunderstorms around the hurricane's center of circulation and in bands of thunderstorms west of the center. The MODIS or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument showed a thick band of thunderstorms wrapping into the center from the west.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Hurricane Humberto on /Sept. 10 at 11:29 p.m. EDT and revealed cloud cloud-top temperatures in excess of -63F/-52C (purple) in thunderstorms around the hurricane's center of circulation and in bands of thunderstorms west of the center.
Image Credit:
NASA JPL, Ed Olsen
At 11 a.m. EDT on Sept. 11, Hurricane Humberto made a turn to the north and is expected to continue in that direction for another day or two. It was centered about 340 miles/550 km west of the Cape Verde Islands, near 16.7 north and 29.1 west. Humberto has maximum sustained winds near 80 mph/130 kph and is moving to the north near 9 mph/15 kph.
The National Hurricane Center noted that Humberto could strengthen a little today before weakening on Sept. 12. Humberto is headed for cooler waters and an environment where wind shear is expected to increase which is why it is expected to weaken.
Text credit: Rob Gutro/Hal Pierce
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sept. 10, 2013 - Sees Heavy Rainfall in Strengthening Tropical Storm Humberto
NASA's TRMM satellite showed a large area of heavy rain (red) south of Humberto's center of circulation on Sept. 9 at 9:47 p.m. EDT. A red tropical storm symbol shows Humberto's approximate center.
Image Credit:
SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce
NASA's TRMM satellite saw heavy rain falling south of Tropical Storm Humberto's center as it continues to strengthen in the Eastern Atlantic.
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite called TRMM passed near Humberto on September 10, 2013 at 0147 UTC (9:47 p.m. Sept. 9) and collected data used in this rainfall analysis. TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) showed a large area of heavy rain south of Humberto's center of circulation. Rain was falling at a rate of 2 inches/50 mm per hour.
At 11 a.m. EDT on Sept. 10, Humberto's maximum sustained winds were near 65 mph/100 kph, just 9 mph shy of hurricane-force. Humberto is now predicted by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to become a hurricane later today, Sept. 10.
The center of Tropical Storm Humberto was located near latitude 14.6 north and longitude 27.7 west, about 220 miles/355 km west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands. Humberto is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph/15 kph and is expected to turn to the northwest later today then north. The estimated minimum central pressure is 998 millibars.
If Humberto becomes a hurricane, it would be the first of the Atlantic Ocean season.
Text credit: Hal Pierce
SSAI/NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
SSAI/NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sept. 09, 2013 - NASA Investigates Gabrielle's Remnants and New Tropical Storm Humberto
NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a view of Tropical Storm Humberto (far right) and the remnants of tropical storm Gabrielle near the Bahamas on Sept. 9 at 7:45 a.m. EDT.
Image Credit:
NASA GOES Project
Tropical Depression Nine formed yesterday, Sept. 8 in the far eastern Atlantic, and NASA's Aqua satellite saw it strengthen into Tropical Storm Humberto today, Sept. 9 at 5 a.m. EDT. As that storm strengthened, the remnants of the once-tropical-storm Gabrielle continued to struggle near the Bahamas as NASA's HS3 mission investigated.
Tropical Storm Humberto is affecting the Cape Verde Islands, so there's a tropical storm warning in up for the southern islands of Maio, Santiago, Fogo, and Brava.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Humberto hours before it was designated a tropical storm, and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument called "AIRS" captured infrared data on the storm. The AIRS data showed that some strong thunderstorms had developed around the center of circulation that were acting as a "heat engine" for the storm and strengthening it. Cloud-top temperatures of those powerful thunderstorms were colder than -63F/-52C, and forecasters at the National Hurricane Center expect Humberto to continue strengthening in the short term. The image also showed that the most powerful thunderstorms, the ones with the coldest cloud top temperatures, were just south of the Cape Verde Islands at the time Aqua flew overhead. Humberto has since moved closer to some of the southern islands bringing rain and gusty winds today.
Both Tropical Humberto the remnants of Gabrielle, located on the other side of the Atlantic, were captured in an image from NOAA's GOES-East satellite today. The image, created by the NASA GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. showed how far east Humberto is compared to Gabrielle's remnants.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Humberto on Sept. 9 and detected cloud-top temperatures of powerful thunderstorms (purple) that were colder than -63F/-52C.
Image Credit:
NASA JPL/Ed Olsen
NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storms Sentinel or HS3 mission gathered data over Gabrielle's remnants over the weekend of Sept. 7 and 8. NASA's Global Hawk 872, or NASA 872 departed from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 8:07 a.m. EDT and flew over the remnants of Gabrielle as it lingered north of the Dominican Republic. NASA 872 dropped dropsondes and took various measurements of the remnants during its flight.NASA 872 ended flight upon landing back at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 7:17 a.m. EDT.
At 8 a.m. on Sept. 9 the center of Tropical Storm Humberto was located near latitude 13.4 north, longitude 23.3 west, just 92 nautical miles south of Praia, in the Cape Verde Islands. Humberto is moving toward the west near 12 mph/19 kph, and the storm is expected to turn to the west-northwest. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph/65 kph and is expected to briefly become a hurricane over the next day or two before weakening again.
The National Hurricane Center noted that the center of Humberto will pass south of the southern Cape Verde Islands this afternoon and tonight and pass west of the islands on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
Meanwhile, an elongated area of low pressure that include the remnants of tropical depression Gabrielle are still lingering in the western Atlantic. That broad area of low pressure is located about 500 miles south-southwest of Bermuda. Because of wind shear on Sept. 9, the shower and thunderstorm activity remains displaced to the east of the center as it was on Sunday, Sept. 8. Upper-level winds are not expected to be conducive for significant development while the low moves northeastward to north-northeastward during the next several days. This system has a low chance, 10 percent, of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next two days
Farther west, the National Hurricane Center noted that a low pressure area could form over the Bay of Campeche in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico in the next couple of days.
For more information about NASA's HS3 mission, please visit: www.nasa.gov/HS3.
