Satellite sees Tropical Storm Fernanda heading west

Tropical Storm Fernanda continues to strengthen as it moves west through the Eastern Pacific Ocean. NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided an infrared image of the storm on July 13 as it was nearing hurricane strength.

NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Fernanda on July 13 at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) as it continued moving west in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted in its 11 a.m. EDT discussion that the recent infrared and visible satellite images show that Fernanda has begun to establish good outflow in all quadrants, indicating that the vertical wind shear that previously affected the tropical storm is diminishing. In addition, imagery also shows that thunderstorms are wrapping all the way around a mid-level center. However, NHC noted, the low-level center remains displaced a little to the north-northeast.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Fernanda was located near 11.7 degrees north latitude and 115.0 degrees west longitude, about 845 miles (1,355 km) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. NHC said Fernanda is moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 kph) and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph (100 kph) with higher gusts. Significant strengthening is forecast over the next 48 hours, and Fernanda is expected to become a hurricane later today and to be near major hurricane strength by tomorrow evening.

For updated forecasts, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.