Hurricane Season 2011: Hurricane Irene (Atlantic Ocean)

[fireblade1]

August 26, 2011, Fourth Update

Track Irene's Progress on NASA Hurricane Websites




Infrared image of Hurricane Irene taken at 1:59 p.m. EDT (17:59 UTC) on Aug. 26, 2011 by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. Areas colored purple represent the storm's coldest cloud-top temperatures and areas of heaviest precipitation.

Large and powerful Hurricane Irene is poised to become the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Ike in 2008. As of Friday afternoon, Aug. 26, Irene was a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, with maximum sustained winds near 100 mph (160 kilometers per hour). An initial landfall is predicted in eastern North Carolina on Aug. 27. Beyond that, the storm is expected to skirt the coastline of the eastern United States. A second landfall is expected in New England on Aug. 28. At that time, the storm is expected to be weaker but still dangerous.

The public is invited to follow Irene's progress and learn more about the storm and NASA's hurricane research online. Satellite images of Irene from a variety of sources are being displayed on NASA's TC-IDEAS website at http://hurricanes.jpl.nasa.gov . The website is a near-real-time tropical cyclone data resource developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., to support last summer's NASA Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) hurricane field campaign. Users should note that some of the data links developed to support last year's airborne field campaign are not currently active.

In collaboration with other institutions, the website integrates data from satellites, models and direct measurements from many sources to help researchers quickly locate information about current and recent oceanic and atmospheric conditions. The composite images and data are updated every hour and are displayed using a Google Earth plug-in. With a few mouse clicks, users can manipulate data and overlay multiple data sets to provide insights on storms that aren't possible by looking at single data sets alone. The data can be animated and downloaded on demand.

TC-IDEAS is a component of JPL's Tropical Cyclone Information System (TCIS) website, located at: JPL Tropical Cyclone Information System. Researchers can use the TCIS to better understand hurricane processes, improve hurricane models and plan future satellite missions.

More on NASA's hurricane research and Irene is online at NASA's hurricanes/tropical cyclones website: NASA - NASA's Hurricane Resource Page .

August 26, 2011, Third Update

NASA Satellites Catch Many Views of Hurricane Irene




This visible image of Hurricane Irene from the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite was taken at August 26 at 12:30 p.m. EDT, when Hurricane Irene was off the Carolinas. (Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team)

Hurricane Irene was spreading her clouds over the southeastern U.S. on Friday, August 26, and NASA satellites were flying overhead gathering data. Coastal evacuations were already happening in New York City, coastal New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina.

NASA satellites gathered rainfall measurements and saw heavy rain and hot towering thunderstorms around Irene's center signaling the power behind her. Even on August 25, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite saw rainfall in intense bands of thunderstorms around her eye, that were dropping rainfall at 2 inches (50 mm) per hour.

NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Irene from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on August 26 at 12:30 p.m. EDT, when Hurricane Irene was off the Carolinas. Although no eye was visible, Irene was still a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale and it was still at that intensity at 3:10 p.m. EDT.

NOAA's GOES-13 satellite provided a much broader view of Hurricane Irene against the entire U.S. east coast on August 26, 2011 at 1:40 p.m. EDT. The extent of Irene's 600 mile wide cloud cover was obvious as it stretched over a third of the U.S. east coast.

Residents along the eastern U.S. coast are facing hurricane-force winds and inland areas are facing tropical storm-force winds. At 2 p.m. EDT on August 26, tropical storm force winds have already arrived along the coast of the Carolinas. Hurricane Irene's center was located about 300 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, near 31.2 North and 77.5 West. Its maximum sustained winds were near 100 mph and it was moving to the north near 14 mph. Minimum central pressure was 951 millibars.

Residents along the east coast need to heed watches and warnings and evacuations. Rainfall is a serious issue with Irene as she is expected to drop 6 to 10 inches with isolated amounts of 15 inches from eastern North Carolina into southeastern Virginia, eastern Maryland, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, southeastern New York, Long Island, Western Connecticut, and western Massachusetts through Monday morning.

The NHC said that dangerous storm surge levels as much as 11 feet are possible in the warning area in North Carolina, and up to 8 feet in southern portions of the Chesapeake Bay. The New Jersey shore can expect surges up to 6 feet above ground level.

Updated forecasts available through the NHC at National Hurricane Center. Follow updates through the weekend from NASA Hurricane on Facebook and Twitter and at www.nasa.gov/hurricane.

Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.


August 26, 2011, Second Update

NASA's TRMM Satellite Analyzes Hurricane Irene in Rainfall, Lightning, Eyewall

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Satellite known as TRMM has the ability to measure rainfall from space, and can also provide scientists with cloud heights, eyewall and lightning information. These images and captions of Hurricane Irene were provided by NASA hurricane scientist, Owen Kelley at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

In general, lightning in the inner core suggests the presence of strong updrafts and large ice particles. By implication, lightning suggests that convective cells are pumping a lot of latent heat energy into the tropical cyclone's central vortex, which is favorable for intensification. Hurricane eyewalls often are devoid of lightning, as is the case for Irene on 8/23. But cat-3 Irene (on 8/24) did have lightning flashes in the eyewall, and there were many flashes during Irene's tropical storm phase (on 8/21).




Three times this week (week of August 21, 2011) , the radar on the TRMM satellite has observed the three-dimensional structure of the rainfall regions under the cloud-tops of Hurricane Irene. At the same time, TRMM also observed Irene with passive microwave, infrared, and lightning instruments. In this image, the passive microwave estimates of surface rainfall are for all three overflights




On Sunday, August 21, 2011, Irene was only a tropical storm, and the TRMM Precipitation Radar reveals that it had an impressive hot tower that reached over 9.5 miles high (15.75 km). Strong radar signals, perhaps from large ice particles are shown in red at the base of the hot towers, which suggests strong updrafts were present in order for the ice particles to have time to grow large. Strong rain had yet to completely encircle the eye, as is typical of tropical storms.






On Tuesday evening, August 23, 2011 Irene was a category 1 hurricane, in the process of intensifying to category 3 in less than 12 hours.Consistent with intensification, the TRMM radar showed that Irene had a complete eyewall circling its eye along with a region of intense convection on the eastern side of the eyewall (right side of image). Some studies suggest that bursts of convection in one portion of a hurricane's eyewall may help to pump latent heat into a hurricane and thereby assist with intensification.




On Wednesday afternoon, Irene had reached the status of a "major" hurricane, at category 3 strength. The observations of the TRMM radar show a compact eyewall, with the possibility that an outer eyewall is forming. Double eyewalls can be part of an eyewall replacement cycle associated with changes in hurricane intensity, either increases or decreases that are difficult to predict.

August 26, 2011, First Update

NASA Infrared Satellite Imagery Shows the Power in Hurricane Irene

Infrared satellite imagery provides forecasters with the location of the highest, strongest thunderstorms that make up Hurricane Irene, and there is a large area of them.

An infrared image from NASA's Aqua satellite's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on August 26 at 2:59 a.m. EDT (06:59 UTC) shows Hurricane Irene right off the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coasts. The infrared data showed highest, coldest thunderstorm cloud tops in two areas. There is a very large area of strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation and also in a large band of on the northeastern quadrant. Cloud top temperatures are colder than -63 Fahrenheit (-52 Celsius) in those areas, indicating strong thunderstorms and heavy rainmakers.

At 8 a.m. EDT this morning Hurricane Irene was centered 375 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, near 30.0 North and 77.3 West. Irene moved 0.1 degree to the west in the last 3 hours. Maximum sustained winds were near 110 mph, and Irene is moving north at 14 mph. Minimum central pressure is 945 millibars.

Radar from Wilmington, North Carolina at 9 a.m. EDT shows the outer bands of Hurricane Irene just off the southeastern North Carolina coast and moving toward the shorelines.

The National Hurricane Center notes that some re-intensification is possible today and Irene is expected to be near the threshold between category two and three as it reaches the North Carolina coast.

Irene has continued to grow over the last week. Irene is now almost 600 miles wide. Tropical storm force winds extend 290 miles from the center. Hurricane force winds extend to 90 miles from the center or 180 miles in diameter.

There are hurricane warnings up and down the U.S. East coast, from South Carolina to New York. Coastal areas are under hurricane watches and warnings and interior areas tend to be under Tropical Storm Warnings and watches.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) notes that "a tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours. A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds...conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous."

Rainfall is a serious issue with Irene as she is expected to generate rainfall accumulations of 6 to 10 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches from Eastern North Carolina into Southeastern Virgina, eastern Maryland, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, southeastern New York, Long Island, Western Connecticut, and western Massachusetts through Monday morning.

The NHC said that dangerous storm surge levels as much as 11 feet are possible in the warning area in North Carolina, and up to 8 feet in southern portions of the Chesapeake Bay. The New Jersey shore can expect surges up to 6 feet above ground level. Updated forecasts available through the NHC at www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Follow updates from NASA Hurricane on facebook and twitter and at www.nhc.noaa.govNASA - NASA's Hurricane Resource Page.



NASA - Hurricane Season 2011: Hurricane Irene (Atlantic Ocean)


fireblade.

[Shady]

ave been keepin gup on this, by all accounts ts nowt more than a bit of rain and some gales.. nothing like the media were hyping it up to be

[TheCoder]

There were some nice live pictures from the Space station the other night that showed just how big this thing was - all very interesting to be able to observe it from a live feed as its actually occuring.