Satellite shows a weaker Hurricane Fernanda

Hurricane Fernanda appears to be weakening on infrared satellite imagery. NOAA's GOES-West satellite imagery on July 19 showed a more disorganized hurricane nearing the Central Pacific Ocean.

NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an infrared image of Hurricane Fernanda on July 19 at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC). The National Hurricane Center noted that Fernanda's convective cloud pattern has continued to wither, and has been accompanied by a general warming of the cloud tops. In the image, created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, an area of strong thunderstorms still surrounded the center of circulation, but no eye was visible.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), the center of Hurricane Fernanda was located near 17.0 degrees north latitude and 135.0 degrees west longitude. That's about 1,330 miles (2,140 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii. The hurricane was moving toward the northwest near 9 mph (15 kph). NHC said the hurricane is expected to turn toward the west-northwest later today at about the same rate of speed, and this general motion should continue through Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 90 mph (150 kph) with higher gusts. Continued weakening is forecast during the next couple of days as it moves into cooler waters. Fernanda is expected to become a tropical storm by Thursday.