NASA sees Otto become eighth hurricane of the Atlantic season

NASA sees Otto become eighth hurricane of the Atlantic season
GOES-13 visible image of Hurricane Otto at 0245 UTC (10:45 p.m. EDT) on Oct. 7, showing the large band of showers and thunderstorms extending from its southeastern quadrant and raining on the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the eastern Dominican Republic. The US east coast is seen to the far left in the image. Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project

At 11 a.m. EDT on Oct. 8, Otto strengthened into a hurricane, becoming the eighth hurricane of the Atlantic Ocean season. NASA's Aqua satellite and the NOAA GOES-13 satellite captured images of Otto as he intensified.

Otto had near 75 mph, and the National Center in Miami, Fla. noted that some strengthening is possible before it weakens on Saturday, Oct. 9. Otto was located about 445 miles south of Bermuda near 25.9 North and 64.0 West. It was moving east-northeast near 17 mph, and had a minimum central pressure of 979 millibars.

On Oct. 7 at 1729 UTC (1:29 p.m. EDT) NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Otto and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an of its cloud temperatures. The image showed that the highest, coldest thunderstorm cloud tops colder than -65 Fahrenheit were around Otto's center and throughout the large band of strong thunderstorms extending from the southeast of Otto's circulation. That band of strong thunderstorms brought heavy rainfall on the already soaked areas of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

NASA sees Otto become eighth hurricane of the Atlantic season
This infrared image of Hurricane Otto's cold (purple and blue) thunderstorms was taken from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on Oct. 7 at 1729 UTC (1:29 p.m. EDT). The purple areas indicate highest, coldest thunderstorm cloud tops colder than -65 Fahrenheit. Note the large band of strong thunderstorms extending from the southeast of Otto's circulation, raining on the northern Leewards, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Credit: NASA/JPL, Ed Olsen

This morning, Otto developed a well-defined center, covered by dense overcast. There's a large curved band of showers and thunderstorms over the southeastern quadrant which continues to bring the heavy rainfall to the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic today.

That large band of showers and thunderstorms extending from Otto's southeastern quadrant was apparent on from the Geostationary Operation Environmental , GOES-13 early today at 0245 UTC (10:45 p.m. EDT on Oct. 7).GOES satellites are operated by NOAA, and images and animations of GOES are created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Because Hurricane Otto is expected to remain in an environment with light and warm waters for about 24 hours (until 11 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 9), it is expected to strengthen during that time. After mid-day Saturday (eastern daylight time) Otto will run into increasing winds shear from the southwest and it will move into cooler waters. Sea surface temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit are needed to maintain a tropical cyclone (hurricane).

Over the weekend as Otto weakens it will begin transition into an extratropical storm.

Citation: NASA sees Otto become eighth hurricane of the Atlantic season (2010, October 8) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2010-10-nasa-otto-eighth-hurricane-atlantic.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

NASA satellites see Otto become a tropical storm

0 shares

Feedback to editors