NASA gets a cold stare from Emilia's eye

NASA's Aqua satellite got a cold stare from Emilia. Infrared satellite data revealed that cloud top temperatures around Hurricane Emilia's eye were bitter cold.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies onboard NASA's Aqua satellite measured cloud top temperatures in the powerful thunderstorms surrounding Emilia's eye to be colder than -94 Fahrenheit (-70 Celsius). That indicates that they're very high in the troposphere, and very powerful (which would coincide with Emilia being a major hurricane).

NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Emilia on July 9, 2012 at 1825 UTC / 2:25 p.m. EDT, and Emilia's eye was clearly visible in the image.

Emilia exploded from a Category 2 hurricane to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale since yesterday. Today, July 10 at 5 a.m. EDT, Emilia's maximum sustained winds were near 140 mph (220 kmh). By 11 a.m. EDT, Emilia's maximum sustained winds dropped to 130 mph (215 kmh),still holding to Category 4 hurricane status. Emilia was located about 685 miles (1100 km) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Emilia is moving at 10 mph (17 kmh) to the west-northwest.

The National Hurricane Center expects Emilia to continue weakening tonight through Thursday, July 12.

Behind Emilia to the east, lies System 98E, a tropical low pressure area that appears to be developing. The National Hurricane Center gives System 98E a 40 percent chance for development over the next couple of days. That means that while Emilia is chasing Tropical Storm Daniel (west of Emilia), there may be another named storm chasing Emilia in the next couple of days.