Hurricane Earl and the low pressure area that now has a 90% chance of becoming Tropical Depression 8 moving west through the central Atlantic.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-13 is operated by NOAA, and NASA’s GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. creates images and animations from GOES data.

The low pressure area’s showers and thunderstorms are gradually becoming better organized in association with a low pressure system located about 1050 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. Right now the National Hurricane Center gives the low a high chance of becoming tropical depression 8 in the next 48 hours. That may mean a one-two punch for the Leeward Islands. The low is moving west at about 20 mph.

Hurricane Danielle became the first major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season overnight as it continued to make its way through the central Atlantic.

Danielle, which had been a Category 2 storm the day before with sustained winds estimated at around 95 knots (~110 mph) by the National Hurricane Center, quickly intensified overnight and by morning was a power Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds of 115 knots (132 mph).

“The TRMM satellite passed directly over Danielle during the night and captured remarkable images as the storm was in the process of intensifying,” said Steve Lang, research meteorologist on the TRMM team in the Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Branch at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Two images were taken from TRMM at 06:46 UTC (2:46 a.m. EDT) on August 27. The first image showed a top-down view of the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within the storm. Rain rates in the center of the swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), and those in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI).The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS), and are created at NASA Goddard. TRMM is managed by both NASA and the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA.

At 11 a.m. EDT, System 96L strengthened and was designated the Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season’s seventh tropical depression (TD7). At that time, TD7 had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, and is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm. If TD7 does strengthen, it would become Tropical Storm Earl.

TD7 is still in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean, about 430 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, near 14.3 North and 30.8 West. It is moving west near 17 mph, and has a minimum central pressure of 1007 millibars.

Tropical Depression 7 on August 25 at 0335 UTC (Aug. 24 at 11:35 p.m. EDT) the infrared data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument showed some strong convection (purple) in the northwestern and southwestern quadrants of the storm. Those high cloud tops were as cold as or colder than -63 degrees Fahrenheit, indicating strong convection and well-developed thunderstorms.

By this morning, August 25, TD7 has “well-defined cyclonically-curved convective bands…and an established upper-level outflow in the western semicircle,” according to the National Hurricane Center. That means that the depression is getting organized.

TD7 is expected to become Tropical Storm Earl later today, especially because there are unusually warm waters in the tropical Atlantic that will help fuel its development. AIRS data showed that the waters are over the 80 degree Fahrenheit threshold needed to power tropical cyclones.

Tropical Depression 6 that formed on August 22 at 5 a.m. EDT. By 5 p.m. EDT that same day, the depression had already strengthened into Tropical Storm Danielle and it is now headed west toward the central Atlantic Ocean.

By 5 a.m. EDT on August 23, Tropical Storm Danielle had maximum sustained winds near 60 mph. Danielle is now expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Tuesday, August 24. Danielle’s center was located about 850 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde islands near 14.8 North and 37.1 West. It was moving west-northwest near 14 mph and is expected to speed up in forward motion. Danielle’s estimated minimum central pressure is 997 millibars.

East of Danielle is another area that forecasters are watching for development. It is an area of disturbed weather located near the west coast of Africa, associated with a tropical wave. Some slow development of that system is possible over the next couple of days as it moves westward. However, there’s only a 10 percent chance it will develop into a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours.

Today, August 17, TD5’s remnants moved inland over the western Mississippi Gulf Coast during the early morning hours (EDT), so the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. noted that there is now a “near zero chance” that TD5’s remnants will reform into a tropical depression. That doesn’t mean that the Gulf coast will be devoid of effects, however.

The three-hour rainfall accumulation map created today, August 17 for the three hour period of rainfall from Aug. 16 at 11 p.m. EDT to Aug. 17 at 2 a.m. EDT showed the heaviest rainfall over southeastern and south central Louisiana where rainfall between .3 and .4 inches (6-8 millimeters) fell early this morning.

Just as TD5 moved inland this weekend over Louisiana and Mississippi and brought heavy rainfall, its bringing them back for an encore performance. Locally heavy rainfall and occasional gusty winds associated with the low are still possible along portions of the north-central Gulf of Mexico coast today.

Remnants moved inland over the western Mississippi Gulf Coast during the early morning hours (EDT), so the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. noted that there is now a “near zero chance” that TD5’s remnants will reform into a tropical depression. That doesn’t mean that the Gulf coast will be devoid of effects, however.