Vamco was in the process of becoming an extra-tropical storm on August 25, but his sustained winds were still around 74 mph, making him a category one typhoon. NASA’s QuikScat satellite confirmed his powerful winds and NASA’s Terra satellite visible imagery still revealed a strong storm.

At 2 a.m. EDT on August 25, Vamco was still enroute to the Alaskan islands headed north-northeast at 38 mph in the north Central Pacific Ocean. He was about 980 miles west-southwest of Kiska, Alaska. That’s near 41.6 north and 158.9 east. Vamco will continue moving northeast toward the far southwestern Aleutian Islands.

NASA’s QuikScat satellite was able to peer through Vamco’s clouds on August 24 using microwave technology and actually measure the winds on the surface of the ocean beneath him. QuikScat found Vamco still had sustained winds near 65 knots (74 mph), so he was still at a category one hurricane strength at that time.

Meanwhile, in the early morning hours of August 25, visible satellite imagery from NASA’s Terra satellite and the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument revealed Vamco’s clouds still had a good circulation.

Vamco is starting to weaken, however. Infrared satellite imagery, such as that from NASA’s Aqua satellite’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument, indicated that Vamco’s eye has become elongated and grown larger. Also, Vamco’s convection and rainfall has started to erode as wind shear has increased. Vamco is expected to continue weakening as winds continue to batter his circulation.

Although the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center has issued their final advisory on Vamco, shipping interests in the North Pacific Ocean should be aware of high seas.

Hurricane Bill drenched eastern Canada on his sweep by yesterday, August 24, bringing heavy rains to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Tomorrow, he’ll bring his remnants will rain on Great Britain and they’ll hang around for two days.

On Monday, August 24 Hurricane Bill skirted eastern Canada on its way out into the North Atlantic Ocean. Bill brought gusty winds, heavy surf and heavy rains to the region. Bill downed trees and power lines, and putting 40,000 people in the dark in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Environment Canada, the meteorological organization for Canada, reported that up to 0.8 inches of rain fell in an hour at the Halifax airport. Bill forced the cancellation of flights Sunday afternoon at Halifax Stanfield International Airport and disrupted ferry service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

At the beaches, five-to-seven meter waves swept over the sands and into nearby roadways, causing flooding. Highways to Peggy’s Cove and Lawrencetown Beach in Halifax were closed.

Bill was a huge storm, spanning 460 miles in diameter. NASA satellites were able to capture Bill’s size in a number of ways. From Bill’s cloud cover to the extent of his winds. The Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite provided clear images of Bill’s cloud cover, showing the large area that Bill covered. NASA’s QuikScat satellite was able to peer through those clouds using microwave technology and actually measure the winds on the surface of the ocean beneath Hurricane Bill, confirming his category one hurricane strength as he passed Nova Scotia.

Fortunately, the northeast quadrant of the storm remained at sea, as that’s where the strongest winds are located in a hurricane. Oil and gas platforms and ships at sea dealt with those winds. The storm came as close as 46 miles fromHalifax, Nova Scotia, which was within the area of hurricane-force winds. Marine buoys off the southern coast of the city reported gusts to 80 miles per hour.

Remnants of Bill will be moving into Great Britain Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds. Southwest Scotland and west Great Britain will see Bill’s remnants exit and move east on Thursday, local time.