Tropical Storm Ignacio may not be alone in the Eastern Pacific Ocean for long. There are two areas of showers and thunderstorms that forecasters are watching for development, farther east and closer to land. On August 26 at 5 a.m. EDT, Tropical Storm Ignacio had sustained winds near 50 mph, but he’s moving into an area of adverse conditions that are expected to weaken him in the next day. Ignacio was located 815 miles west of the southern tip of Baja California, near 21.2 north and 122.5 west. He was moving northwest near 14 mph, and his minimum central pressure was 1000 millibars.
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite, captured an image of Tropical Storm Ignacio yesterday that showed Ignacio still had some stronger thunderstorms around his center. That’s about to change as he’s entering cooler waters. Infrared imagery is false-colored and higher cloud tops of stronger storms are depicted in purple. Ignacio showed a circular area of high, strong thunderstorms around his center of circulation on August 25 at 5:35 p.m. Those highest thunderstorms are as cold as or colder than 220 Kelvin or minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (F). Meanwhile, the other two areas in the Eastern Pacific that are holding the interest of forecasters are closer to land and both areas were captured by NOAA’s GOES-11 (Geostationary Operational Environmental) satellite earlier today, August 26. The first area is consists of disorganized showers and thunderstorms, several hundred miles south-southwest of the southwestern coast of Mexico. The second area is a low pressure area several hundred miles south of the Guatemalan coast. Both areas have less than a 30 percent chance of developing. The GOES-11 satellite imagery revealed that both of these clusters of showers and thunderstorms are still pretty disorganized. NASA’s GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. created the imagery using data from the satellite. |
An area of low pressure east of the Bahamas has now powered up into Tropical Storm Danny, and NASA’s Aqua satellite captured his strengthening thunderstorms in infrared imagery. Danny came together this morning, August 26, and was classified as a tropical storm at 11 a.m. EDT. The National Hurricane Center said this morning that “interests in the Bahamas and the southeastern United States should monitor the progress of Danny.” Danny’s sustained winds went from less than 35 mph to 45 mph this morning, and some slow strengthening is possible in the next couple of days. Danny’s center was about 445 miles east of Nassau and about 775 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. That’s near 24.9 north and 70.3 west. Danny’s minimum central pressure was near 1009 millibars. He was moving west-northwest near 18 mph and is expected to turn to the north-northwest on Friday, headed to the U.S. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) used wind data from NASA’s QuikScat satellite this morning to confirm Danny’s tropical storm status. The NHC discussion today said, “Quikscat data and a few observations from the stepped frequency microwave radiometer show tropical storm-force winds occurring north and northeast of the center…which is the basis for the initial intensity of 40 knot winds.” Danny is a medium-sized storm, with tropical storm force winds extending 140 outward from his eye. In comparison, Tropical Storm Hilda’s tropical storm force winds extend only 70 miles out from the center. Hilda is currently in the Central Pacific Ocean, moving south of the Hawaiian Islands. The Aqua satellite also flew over Tropical Storm Danny earlier today, August 26 at 2:29 a.m. EDT and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument provided valuable infrared data on his cloud top temperatures. They’re important because they tell forecasters how high thunderstorms are, and the higher the thunderstorm, the more powerful it is, and the data helped forecasters see there are strong thunderstorms in Danny’s center of circulation. In infrared imagery, NASA’s false-colored purple clouds are as cold as or colder than 220 Kelvin or minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (F). The blue colored clouds are about 240 Kelvin, or minus 27F. The colder the clouds are, the higher they are, and the more powerful the thunderstorms are that make up the cyclone. The National Hurricane Center notes that “Danny is expected to cause storm total rainfall of 2 to 3 inches with maximum amounts of 4 inches over the central and northwestern Bahamas. Total rainfall of 1 to 2 inches is expected over the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.”. |
