NASA sees an organized Hurricane Helene near Africa

Visible imagefrom NASA's Aqua satellite showed that newly developed Hurricane Helene had strengthened and organized quickly.

Tropical Depression 8 formed on Sept. 7 at 11 a.m. EDT and strengthened in a tropical storm on by 11 p.m. EDT that day. When it became a tropical storm it was re-named Helene.

On Sept. 10 from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite showed an organized storm with a thick band of powerful thunderstorms circling the eye.

The National Hurricane Center noted at 11 a.m. EDT on Sept. 10, "Helene's cloud pattern has become much better organized during the past few hours, with a clear 20 nautical miles wide eye seen in Meteosat infrared imagery

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Sept. 10 the National Hurricane Center of NHC noted the eye of Hurricane Helene was located near latitude 14.6 degrees north and longitude 30.0 degrees west. It was located about 375 miles (600 km) west of the southernmost Cabo Verde Islands so there are no watches or warnings in effect.

Helene is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26 kph). A west-northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected through late Tuesday, followed by a turn toward the northwest and then toward the north-northwest on Wednesday and Thursday. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 105 mph (165 kph) with higher gusts.

Some additional strengthening is expected today, and Helene is forecast to become a major hurricane by tonight. Steady weakening is forecast to begin by late Tuesday.