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July 2, 2014
NASA's TRMM Satellite Spots Heavy Rainfall Around Tropical Storm Arthur's Center
Image above: One of the Expedition 40 crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station, some 227 nautical miles above Earth, photographed this image of Tropical Storm Arthur early on July 2, 2014. Image Credit: NASA.
Tropical Storm Arthur appears to be ramping up, and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite spotted heavy rainfall occurring around the storm's center on July 1 when it was centered over the Bahamas.
Those heavy rains are expected to affect the southern U.S. coastline over the next several days as the National Hurricane Center expects Arthur to strengthen into a hurricane. On July 2, the NHC issued a Hurricane Watch for Bogue Inlet to Oregon Inlet, North Carolina and Pamlico Sound. In addition, a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the east coast of Florida from Sebastian Inlet to Flagler Beach, South Santee River South Carolina to south of Bogue Inlet, North Carolina, north of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina to the North Carolina/Virginia Border, and the Eastern Albemarle Sound.
Image above: GOES-West image of Arthur. Image Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project.
The TRMM satellite had a good daylight look at tropical storm Arthur on July 1, 2014 at 1620 UTC (12:20 p.m. EDT) less than two hours after it was upgraded from a tropical depression. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland rainfall from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data were overlaid on a GOES-East satellite infrared/visible image taken at 1626 UTC (12:26 p.m. EDT). The TMI instrument showed very heavy rainfall around Arthur's center. The heaviest rainfall was occurring at a rate of about 2 inches per hour. Powerful thunderstorms in that area reached heights above 15.5 km (about 9.6 miles).
Shortly after TRMM flew over Arthur and gathered rainfall and cloud height data, NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of the storm over the Bahamas. The image, created by the NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team, used visible data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument that flies aboard Terra. The image showed a concentration of powerful storms around the center and northwestern quadrant of the storm. Arthur's western quadrant continued to affect the east coast of Florida.
Image above: NASA's Terra satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Storm Arthur on July 1 at 16:30 UTC (12:30 p.m. EDT) over the Bahamas. Image Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team.
On July 2 at 8 a.m. EDT (12:00 UTC) the center of Tropical Storm Arthur was near latitude 28.8 north and longitude 79.0 west. That's about 100 miles (160 km east-northeast of Cape Canaveral, Florida and NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Arthur's center is also 275 miles (445 km) south of Charleston, South Carolina.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted that Arthur is moving toward the north near 6 mph (9 kph) and this motion is expected to continue today. A turn toward the north-northeast is expected tonight, July 2, followed by a turn toward the northeast. Maximum sustained winds remain near 60 mph (95 kph). Some strengthening is forecast during the next two days and Arthur is expected to become a hurricane by Thursday, July 3.
Image above: This image of rainfall occurring in Tropical Storm Arthur on July 1, 2014 at 12:20 p.m. EDT showed heavy rain (red) around the center of the storm. Image Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce.
NHC noted that Arthur is expected to move east of the east-central coast of Florida today, July 2, pass east of Northeastern Florida tonight, move parallel to the coast of South Carolina on Thursday July 3, and approach the hurricane watch area Thursday night. For expected conditions along the watch areas, please visit the National Hurricane Center website: www.nhc.noaa.gov.
July 01, 2014 - Atlantic's Developing Tropical Depression 1
On June 29, 2014, at 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 UTC) the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM, satellite flew over a low-pressure center east of Florida. This low-pressure area developed over South Carolina and moved east into the Atlantic Ocean where the warm waters of the Gulf Stream helped fuel it.
NASA's TRMM satellite uses different instruments that allow scientists on Earth to create 3-D images of those storms so they can see where the most powerful areas are within it. A NASA rainfall analysis made on June 29 that used data from TRMM's Microwave Imager and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments showed that rainfall was only light to moderate near the center of the low.
Image above: The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Depression 1 (01L) off the coast of central Florida on June 30 at 3 p.m. EDT. Image Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team.
At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the TRMM science office also created a simulated 3-D view of rainfall using TRMM PR data that showed most of the convective (rising air that forms clouds and thunderstorms) showers and thunderstorms near the center of the low were only reaching altitudes of about 6.2 miles (about 10 km). A few of the outer rain bands contained powerful thunderstorm "hot towers," or towering clouds that reached heights of about 8 miles (13 km) indicating strong thunderstorms with heavy rainfall potential.
On June 30 at 3 p.m. EDT the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an impressive visible image of Tropical Depression 1 off the coast of central Florida. The image showed some powerful, high thunderstorms over the Bahamas. In visible imagery, the strongest thunderstorms are identified as the highest ones that cast shadows on the clouds below them.
On July 1 that area of low pressure developed into Tropical Depression 1. The National Hurricane Center issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the east coast of Florida from Fort Pierce to Flagler Beach.
Image above: NASA's TRMM satellite showed showers and thunderstorms near the center of the low near 6.2 miles. A few of the outer rain bands contained thunderstorms as high as 8 miles (red) indicating strong storms with heavy rainfall potential. Image Credit: NASA/Hal Pierce, SSAI.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) that the center of Tropical Depression 1 was located near 27.5 degrees north latitude and 79.2 degrees west longitude. That's just about 95 miles (155 km) southeast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The depression has remained nearly stationary during the past few hours. A northwestward motion is expected to begin later today, followed by a turn toward the north on Wednesday. Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 kph). The estimated minimum central pressure is 1007 millibars.
NHC noted that the depression may become a tropical storm later in the day on July 1. The system is forecast to pass east of northeastern Florida on Wednesday, July 2. For updates, visit the National Hurricane Center webpage: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.
For more information about Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), visit: http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center / Rob Gutro and Hal Pierce.
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