NASA finds Subtropical Depression Alberto's center over Indiana

NASA's Terra satellite provided infrared data on Subtropical Depression Alberto when it was centered over Indiana and as it moved through the Ohio Valley.

On May 30, The National Weather Service (NWS) was issuing Flash Flood Warnings for portions of western Kentucky as well as from extreme northeast Georgia to western North Carolina. Flash Flood Watches are in effect for portions of the southern Appalachians and Lower Ohio Valley.

At 11 a.m. EDT the center of Subtropical Depression Alberto was located near latitude 38.7 degrees north and longitude 87.4 degrees west. That's about 80 miles (129 km) southwest of Indianapolis, Indiana. The depression is moving toward the north-northeast near 17 mph (28 kph) and this motion is expected to accelerate today. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 kph) with higher gusts.

The NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland said the system will transition to an extratropical wave cyclone as the remnant circulation comes under the influence of an upper level trough moving across the Great Lakes and southern Canada through Thursday.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured an infrared image of Subtropical Depression Alberto on May 30 at 12:15 p.m. EDT (1645 UTC) in the Ohio Valley. Terra showed strongest storms had cloud top temperatures as cold as or colder than minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius). Storms with cloud tops that cold have been shown to generate heavy rain.

NWS said "Additional rainfall of 2 to 4 inches, with isolated higher amounts, will be possible northward along the Illinois/Indiana border into the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Flash flooding and rapid water rises on creeks and streams will remain a possibility across these areas."