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.

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.

Five years later, NASA is revisiting Hurricane Katrina with a short video that shows the storm as captured by NASA satellites. NASA provides space-based satellite observations, field research missions, and computer climate modeling to further scientists’ understanding of these storms. NASA also provides measurements and modeling of global sea surface temperatures, precipitation, winds and ocean heat content — all ingredients that contribute to the formation of tropical cyclones

On Aug. 29, 2005, after passing over the Caribbean and Florida, Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast as a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. As hurricanes go, Katrina was actually only moderate in size when it reached the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, having weakened from a category 5 the day before. However, Katrina had a very wide footprint, which caused a broad area of large ocean swells to develop within the Gulf of Mexico. As the hurricane made its final landfall, the resulting storm surge was massive and unrelenting. Ultimately, this storm surge was responsible for much of the damage as it flooded coastal communities, overwhelmed levees, and left at least 80 percent of New Orleans underwater.

Tropical Depression 5 (TD5) extended from Louisiana northeast into southwest Alabama. Infrared imagery indicated some strong thunderstorms over south central Louisiana and northwest Alabama.

on August 18 at 19:23 UTC (3:23 p.m. EDT). In the image showers and clouds stretched from Louisiana northeast into Tennessee. The clouds over Louisiana and southern Alabama were part of TD5. The clouds and showers in north central Alabama and Tennessee were generated by a shortwave trough (elongated area of low pressure) moving through Tennessee.

During the time of the AIRS image, the strongest thunderstorms and convection (rapidly rising air that forms thunderstorms) were located over south central Louisiana and north central Alabama. Both of those areas experienced heavy rainfall at that time yesterday.

On August 19 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, the lingering remnants of Tropical Depression 5, were over southern Mississippi. TD5’s remnants are forecast to drift slowly eastward today and bring numerous showers and thunderstorms to southwestern Alabama. The heavy rainfall has been producing flash flooding over Mississippi. Flooding is now possible today over southwestern Alabama because of the remnants slow motion.