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Hurricane Season 2008: Tropical Storm Fay (Atlantic Ocean)
Fay's Remnants Raining over the Mid-Atlantic States and All the Way to Buffalo, NY!
Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project > Larger image Fay was "born" on August 15, and started raining on the Florida Straits on the 18th. Ten days later on August 28, she's still raining on the U.S., but now over the Mid-Atlantic U.S.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT the weak surface low associated with Fay was located near latitude 37.8 north and longitude 82.7 west or about 40 miles south of Huntington, West Virginia. Her maximum sustained winds have slowed to 10 mph, and minimum central pressure is up to 1010 millibars. Fay's surface low is moving northeast at 8 mph, she'll continue to move northeastward today.
As of 9:00 a.m., August 28, Fay's rains were stretched from the Mid-Atlantic States up to Pennsylvania and western New York State! See them on National Weather Service national radar at: > NWS radar
Fay's remnants are expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 1 to 2 inches with locally higher amounts through Friday morning across portions of northeastern North Carolina, Virginia, western Maryland, western Pennsylvania, and the Eastern West Virginia Panhandle.
This satellite image was captured on August 28 at 12:25 UTC (8:25 a.m. EDT from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12). In the image, the surface Low pressure area that was Fay is the cloud cover over the mid-Atlantic that stretch northward. GOES is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was created by NASA's GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center issued their last advisory on Fay. Fay's remnants will now only be monitored by individual National Weather Service Forecast Offices.
Text credit: Rob Gutro/Goddard Space Flight Center
August 27, 2008
Fay Continues to Creep Northward, Now Crossing the Appalachians
Fay's remnants are taking an inland track through the mid-Atlantic states on Wed. and Thurs. Aug. 27 and 28, and barely reaching the coastal areas of Maryland and Delaware where the rain is greatly needed.
What's Keeping Fay from the Coast?
Why is Fay taking an inland track north? Because there's a high pressure system centered over northeastern New York State and Vermont that's blocking her and keeping her from reaching the coast. High pressure rotates clockwise so because the High is that far north, it is producing a westerly wind flow, thus, keeping Fay's remnants from moving east.
GOES Satellite Captures Fay's Remnants
Credit: NOAA/NASA
> Larger image This satellite image was captured on August 27 at 13:02 UTC (9:02 a.m. EDT) from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12). GOES is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was created by NASA's GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Fay's Rains Affecting Many States
She's expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 2 to 4 inches through Friday morning over parts of North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, and western Maryland. As with any tropical system over land, isolated tornadoes are possible today over portions of South Carolina, North Carolina, southern Virginia, and southern West Virginia.
Flash flood watches remain in effect for portions of western north and south Carolina, and southwestern Virginia. Flood warnings remain in effect for portions of Georgia and Florida.
Where is Fay on Wednesday Morning, August 27?
At 5:00 a.m. EDT Fay's remnants, which are basically just a weak low pressure system, was located near latitude 35.5 north and longitude 84.5 west., or about 40 miles southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee. Fay is moving northeast at 10 mph and will continue to weaken and move northeastward. Her maximum sustained winds are near 15 mph, and minimum central pressure is 1006 millibars.
See Fay's Rains on Live Radar from Blacksburg, Virginia: http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?product=NCR&rid=fcx&loop=yes
Fay's Remnants Bring Tornadoes to North Georgia
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Fay's remnants produced two tornadoes yesterday, Aug. 26. The NWS reported a funnel cloud in Jackson County, Georgia at 4:30 p.m. and it apparently touched down. There was a report of significant damage in the town of Commerce, Ga. More than 40 mobile homes were reported damage in that town. Hall County, Georgia also reported that tornadoes ripped down trees and damaged two elementary schools.
Fay's Current Rainfall Totals in the South
Fay's rains have already affected North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. It's still raining in all of those states on Aug. 27, but here's a look at rainfall totals in those states as of Aug. 27 at 2:00 a.m. EDT:
NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE 5.90
ASHEVILLE 5.22
HICKORY 2.90
MONROE ARPT 2.85
WINSTON-SALEM 1.21
SOUTH CAROLINA
BEAUFORT 6.11
MEGGETT 1.8 W 4.97
SALEM 0.1 SE 4.65
WALTERBORO 2 SW 4.33
HARDEEVILLE 13 S 4.25
CHARLESTON/MUNI APT 4.07
FOLLY BEACH 2.5 SW 3.96
WALHALLA 5 NW 3.94
MARIETTA 1.8 SW 3.49
COLUMBIA/METRO ARPT 3.10
GREENVILLE/SPARTANBURG 3.03
TENNESSEE
CARTHAGE 0.1 W 5.30
COLUMBIA 0.9 SE 5.05
EAGLEVILLE 1 SE 4.39
SMYRNA 4.5 SSW 4.24
SIGNAL MTN 1.2 WSW 4.20
RED BANK 3.4 NNE 4.19
CHATTANOOGA/LOVELL FLD 3.75
KNOXVILLE 1.73
VIRGINIA
GRAYSON HIGHLANDS IFLOWS 1.88
PEAK CREEK IFLOWS 1.24
FANCY GAP IFLOWS 1.16
Text credit: Rob Gutro/Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 26, 2008, second update
Florida Drenched by Tropical Storm Fay
Credit: NASA/JAXA> Larger image Although it wasn't an especially powerful storm, Floridians won't soon forget Tropical Storm Fay, which left many parts of the state under water. After stalling along the east-central side of the state near Cape Canaveral, the slow-moving storm then made its way westward across the Florida panhandle before moving into southern Alabama and Mississippi.
After passing through the Florida Keys on the afternoon of the 18th, Tropical Storm Fay made landfall during the early morning hours of August 19, 2008 at Cape Romano on the southern Gulf Coast of Florida. Despite making landfall, Fay maintained and even increased slightly in intensity as it was in the process of intensifying just before coming ashore. During the daylight hours on Wednesday the 19th, Fay cut diagonally across the Florida peninsula with maximum sustained winds reported at 65 mph by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). As Fay began to approach Melbourne in east-central Florida on the evening of the 19th, it began to slow down. By midday on the 20th, the storm was essentially stalled out in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral as a developing ridge of high pressure to the north impeded the storm's progress. On the evening of the 20th, Fay ever so slowly drifted northward hugging the Florida coastline.
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (also known as TRMM) has been monitoring Fay's progress over the past several days. Launched into service back in November of 1997, TRMM has been providing valuable images and information on tropical cyclones around the Tropics for over 10 years now. This unique image of Fay was captured by TRMM at 02:59 UTC 21 August (10:59 pm EDT 20 August) 2008 as the storm was drifting slowly northward just off-shore about 35 miles southeast of Daytona Beach, Florida. The image shows the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within the storm. Rain rates in the center swath are based on the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), and those in the outer swath on the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM reveals that Fay has a large eye, which is surrounded by a large ring of light to moderate (blue and green areas, respectively) rain with some embedded localized areas of heavier rain (red areas) south of the center. Additional rainbands are located further out from the center mainly east and west of the center. As tropical cyclones age, their wind fields can expand, Fay's large circular eye is consistent with that pattern. At the time of this image, the maximum sustained winds were measured at 60 mph by the NHC.
Credit: NASA/JAXA> Larger image The afternoon of August 21st saw Fay make its third landfall in the state of Florida as the center slowly passed over Flagler Beach. With the high pressure ridge to the north deflecting the storm westward, Fay slowly made its way across northern Florida. It took the slow-moving storm until the evening of the 22nd to make its way across the Florida peninsula and back over water into the northern Gulf of Mexico. After finally picking up a little bit of forward speed, during the early morning hours of the 23rd, Fay made its fourth and final landfall in Florida along the northern Gulf Coast. Fay then made its way through the Florida panhandle before weakening to a depression and moving into southern Alabama on the evening of August 23rd.
The main result of Fay's slow forward motion was that it dumped enormous amounts of rain along its path. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center provides estimates of rainfall over the global Tropics. TMPA rainfall totals associated with Fay are shown for the period 15 to 25 August 2008. The solid black line shows the path of the storm with appropriate storm symbols marking the 00Z positions and intensity. The highest rainfall totals for the period (shown in the darker red) exceed 300 mm (~12 inches) and are located over south-central Cuba, southwest Florida and just off of the coast of east-central Florida. A swath of 200 mm (~8 inch amounts, shown in orange) extends from southwest Florida where Fay made landfall to Lake Okeechobee. Similar amounts also occurred along the coast of east-central Florida; locally amounts upwards of 20 inches of rain (~500 mm) were reported in and around Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, and Cape Canaveral. Many areas in the southern and eastern half of the state received at least 150 mm (~6 inches, shown in yellow) of rain from the storm as did northern Florida where locally Tallahassee reported nearly 12 inches. Fay is being blamed for six deaths in the state of Florida.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
Text credit: Steve Lang, SSAI/NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 26, 2008, first update
Tropical Depression Fay's Relentless Rains Moving Through the Southeast
Credit: NASA JPL
> Larger image Fay doesn't know when to quit, but the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico continue to feed her, and enable her to rain on the southern U.S. At 5:00 a.m. EDT, on Tuesday, August 26, 2008, Fay is now slowly moving in a northeasterly direction into northern Alabama.
Flash flood watches are in effect for portions of Alabama, Georgia, the Florida panhandle, eastern Tennessee, and far western North and South Carolina. Flood Warnings are in effect for portions of southern Alabama, southern Georgia, and northern Florida.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT Fay's center was near latitude 33.2 north, longitude 87.7 west or near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She has maximum sustained winds near 20 mph, and is moving northeast near 6 mph. Minimum central pressure is 1003 millibars.
Fay will reach northern Alabama today and move into eastern Tennessee tonight, where her rains could cause flooding in the mountainous areas.
Fay is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 2 to 5 inches through Thursday morning over parts of northern Georgia, eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky...north and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, southeastern Ohio, and southwestern Pennsylvania. Isolated maximum amounts of 8 inches are possible across the Appalachians.
Isolated tornadoes are possible today across much of Georgia, southeastern Alabama, the Florida panhandle, eastern Tennessee, and the western portion of the Carolinas.
This infrared image of Fay was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on August 25 at 18:53 UTC (2:53 p.m. EDT), and Fay's rains were centered in Alabama and Georgia, moving into Tennessee.
For live radar from Knoxville, Tennessee, where Fay is already raining, visit: > Live radar site
The AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of Fay. The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the ocean and land surfaces, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
Text credit: Rob Gutro/Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 25, 2008
Tropical Depression Fay Still a Huge Rainmaker- Totals by State
Credit: NASA JPL
> Larger image Tropical Depression Fay is still around and pounding portions of Alabama, Mississippi, eastern Louisiana, southern Georgia, and the Florida panhandle. Most of those areas have flash flood watches posted for Monday, August 25, 2008. Fay's rains have been relentless. Some areas received over 2 feet of rain. In some places the rains were devastating, in others, the rains were welcome, especially in extreme drought stricken areas of Georgia.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT on Monday, August 25, 2008 Fay remained nearly stationary over southern Mississippi. Her center was located near latitude 31.3 north and longitude 89.9 west or about 75 miles south of Jackson, Mississippi and 90 miles, north of New Orleans, Louisiana.
The depression is nearly stationary. The forecast track indicates that the center of Fay will begin moving to the northeast today...and reach into northern Alabama during Tuesday. Maximum sustained winds are near 25 mph with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is forecast during the next couple of days. The minimum central pressure is 1002 millibars.
Tropical depression Fay is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 3 to 6 inches over parts of Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, western and northern Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and the western Carolinas through Wednesday morning, with isolated maximum amounts of 10 inches possible. Isolated tornadoes are possible today across much of Alabama...western Georgia and the Florida panhandle.
This infrared image of Fay was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on Saturday, August 23 at 19:05 UTC (3:05 p.m. EDT), and Fay's rains were covering the Florida panhandle, and parts of Georgia and Alabama.
For live radar from Birmingham, Alabama, visit: > Live radar site
The AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of Fay. The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the ocean and land surfaces, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
The National Weather Service's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Maryland is the organization that keeps track of the rainfall that Fay has created. Below are some selected storm totals for rainfall (in inches) through Monday, August 25 as of 2:00 a.m. EDT:
LOUISIANA
BATON ROUGE 2.80
BOOTHVILLE 1.92
NEW ORLEANS (MSY) 1.46
SALT POINT 1.31
SLIDELL 1.15
NEW IBERIA 1.07
LAFAYETTE 0.76
MISSISSIPPI
STARKVILLE 5.3 S 2.88
NATCHEZ/HARDY 2.72
COLUMBUS AFB 2.47
MERIDIAN/KEY FIELD 2.45
TUPELO 2.20
MERIDIAN NAS/MCCAIN 1.96
JACKSON 1.94
VICKSBURG 1.75
MCCOMB/LEWIS FIELD 1.85
GREENWOOD 1.10
HATTIESBURG 1.01
PASCAGOULA 0.79
BILOXI 0.23
GULFPORT 0.17
ALABAMA
CAMDEN 1.0 NNE 6.55
EUFAULA 1.0 SSE 6.26
WETUMPKA 5.0 SE 6.14
TROY 5.65
OZARK 5.42
DOTHAN 4.38
AUBURN 4.05
MONTGOMERY 3.58
BIRMINGHAM 3.31
ANNISTON 2.84
TUSCALOOSA 2.31
EVERGREEN 1.81
MOBILE 1.41
GEORGIA
THOMASVILLE 2.8 E 17.43
COOLIDGE 3.2 SSW 12.03
MOULTRIE 6.2 SW 9.45
VALDOSTA 8.31
LAKE PARK 2.8 W 7.11
ALBANY 4.64
COLUMBUS 4.29
ALMA 4.24
SAVANNAH 3.16
BRUNSWICK 2.88
MACON 2.26
PEACHTREE CITY 1.48
SOUTH CAROLINA
BEAUFORT 5.84
MEGGETT 1.8 W 4.97
FOLLY BEACH 2.5 SW 3.96
CHARLESTON 2.72
FLORIDA
MELBOURNE BEACH 25.28
COCOA BEACH 24.38
CAPE CANAVERAL 22.83
DELTONA 22.69
SATELLITE BEACH 22.40
PALM SHORES 1.4 W 21.44
PALM BAY 1.0 NE 21.00
ORANGE CITY 19.81
HILLIARD 5.4 NW 19.70
SANFORD 15.70
TALLAHASSEE (TLH) 11.93
FORT PIERCE 11.58
JACKSONVILLE 11.70
VERO BEACH 11.34
CROSS CITY 9.97
DAYTONA BEACH 8.82
WEST PALM BEACH 7.32
ORLANDO 7.26
FORT MYERS 6.85
MARATHON 6.80
MIAMI 6.19
KEY WEST 3.35
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 22, 2008, second update
Tropical Storm Fay's Heavy Rains the Big Story for Fla.
Credit: NASA/JPL/Colorado State University/Naval Research Laboratory-Monterey> Larger image Tropical Storm Fay has deluged Florida with rain and will continue to do so until the end of the weekend, when it is expected to move west of the Panhandle.
NASA's CloudSat satellite captured a sideways view of Tropical Storm Fay as it makes its way across north Florida en route to southern Mississippi and eastern Louisiana by the early morning hours on Monday, August 25.
As of Aug. 22 at 2 p.m. a Tropical Storm Watch remains in effect from west of Destin, Florida to the Mississippi/Alabama border.
At 2:00 p.m. EDT, Fay's center was located near latitude 29.7 north...longitude 82.9 west or about 40 miles north-northeast of Cedar Key, Fla. Fay's maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast during the next 24 hours. It was moving west near 4 mph. Fay is expected to cross the northern Florida peninsula today and move over the panhandle on Saturday. Estimated minimum central pressure is 997 millibars.
NASA's CloudSat satellite's Cloud Profiling Radar captured a sideways look across Tropical Storm Fay. This is a combination of the CloudSat image (on the bottom) and an image from NASA's Aqua satellite (top).
The top image from NASA's Aqua satellite was supplied through the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It was created using data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer- EOS (AMSR-E). Over the ocean, AMSR-E microwave frequencies probe through smaller cloud particles to measure the microwave emissions from larger raindrops. AMSR-E provides improved measurements of rainfall rates.
The image on the bottom is from NASA's CloudSat satellite. The red line through the Aqua satellite image shows the vertical cross section of radar, basically what Fay's clouds looked like sideways. The colors indicate the intensity of the reflected radar energy. The top of Fay's clouds reach almost to 14 kilometers, or approximately 8.7 miles high.
The blue areas along the top of the clouds indicates cloud ice, while the wavy blue lines on the bottom center of the image indicate intense rainfall. Notice that the solid line along the bottom of the panel, which is the ground, disappears in this area of intense precipitation. It is likely that in the area the precipitation rate exceeds 30mm/hr (1.18 inches/hour) based on previous studies.
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 22, 2008, first update
Animation of Tropical Storm Fay
Click image to view animation
NASA's TRMM spacecraft observed this view of Tropical Storm Fay on August 20, 2008 at 0345Z as it crossed Florida. At this time the storm sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) and a pressure reading of 990 millibars. The storm stalled in this location for 24 hours and brought over 24 inches of rain to Eastern Florida. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner(VIRS) and the GOES spacecraft. The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI) and TRMM's Precitation Radar(PR) instruments. TRMM looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour.
Tropical Storm Fay Moving Slowly Westward Across Florida
While Fay's rains would be welcome news in many parts of the drought-stricken Southeast, Tropical Storm Fay is beginning to wear out its welcome in Florida after stalling along the Atlantic coast side of the state near Cape Canaveral. The slow moving storm has dumped copious amounts of rain across parts of southwest and east-central Florida. It's now moving west toward the Florida panhandle.
After passing through the Florida Keys on the afternoon of the 18th, Tropical Storm Fay made landfall during the early morning hours of August 19, 2008 at Cape Romano on the southern Gulf Coast of Florida. Despite making landfall, Fay maintained and even increased slightly in intensity as it was in the process of intensifying just before coming ashore. During the daylight hours on Wednesday the 19th, Fay cut diagonally across the Florida peninsula with maximum sustained winds reported at 65 mph by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). As Fay began to approach Melbourne in east-central Florida on the evening of the 19th, it began to slow down. By midday on the 20th, the storm was essentially stalled out in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral as a developing ridge of high pressure to the north impeded the storm's progress. On the evening of the 20th, Fay ever so slowly drifted northward hugging the Florida coastline.
Where is Fay on August 22nd?
On Aug. 22, at 8:00 a.m. EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Fay was located near latitude 29.6 north and longitude 82.4 west or just west of Gainesville, Florida.
Fay is moving toward the west near 6 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next day or two. Fay is expected to continue crossing the northern Florida peninsula today...then move near or over the coast of the Florida panhandle tonight and Saturday.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours, but Fay is expected to remain a tropical storm into Saturday. The estimated minimum central pressure is 996 millibars.
NASA's TRMM Satellite Captures Rainfall
Credit: Hal Pierce, SSAI/NASA GSFC> Larger image The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (also known as TRMM) has been monitoring Fay's progress over the past several days. Launched into service back in November of 1997, TRMM has been providing valuable images and information on tropical cyclones around the Tropics for over 10 years now. This unique image of Fay was captured by TRMM at 02:59 UTC 21 August (10:59 pm EDT 20 August) 2008 as the storm was drifting slowly northward just off-shore about 35 miles southeast of Daytona Beach, Florida. The image shows the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within the storm.
Rain rates in the center swath are based on the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), and those in the outer swath on the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM reveals that Fay has a large eye, which is surrounded by a large ring of light to moderate (blue and green areas, respectively) rain with some embedded localized areas of heavier rain (red areas) south of the center. Additional rainbands are located further out from the center mainly east and west of the center. As tropical cyclones age, their wind fields can expand, Fay's large circular eye is consistent with that pattern. At the time of this image, the maximum sustained winds were measured at 60 mph by the NHC.
Credit: Hal Pierce, SSAI/NASA GSFC> Larger image The main result of Fay's slow forward motion was that it dumped enormous amounts of rain along its path. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center provides estimates of rainfall over the global Tropics. TMPA rainfall totals associated with Fay are shown for the period 15 to 21 August 2008. The solid black line shows the path of the storm with appropriate storm symbols marking the 00Z positions and intensity. The highest rainfall totals for the period (shown in the darker red) exceed 250 mm (~10 inches) and are located over south-central Cuba, southwest Florida and just off of the coast of east-central Florida. A swath of 200 mm (~8 inch amounts, shown in red) extends from southwest Florida where Fay made landfall to Lake Okeechobee. Similar amounts also occurred along the coast of east-central Florida; locally amounts upwards of 20 inches of rain (~500 mm) were reported from Melbourne to Cocao Beach, just south of Cape Canaveral. Most of the southern and eastern half of the state received at least 100 mm (~4 inches, shown in yellow) of rain from the storm. Fay is expected to turn westward across northern Florida and weaken as it heads towards the lower Mississippi.
Credit: NASA JPL> Larger image TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
NASA's QuikSCAT Captures Fay's Winds
NASA's QuikSCAT satellite continues watching Fay's winds, by using microwaves to peer into the clouds. QuikSCAT can determine the speed of the rotating winds. This image from QuikSCAT shows Fay's wind speeds in different colors and wind direction are indicated by small barbs. White barbs point to areas of heavy rain. The highest wind speeds, are shown in purple, which indicate winds over 40 knots (46 mph). This image was captured on Aug. 20 at 23:29 UTC (7:29 p.m. EDT) when Fay's center was over east-central Florida.
Text credit: Steve Lang/Rob Gutro - SSAI/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
News from the Kennedy Space Center
A debris-covered road with erosion near Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA > Larger image Managers plan to reopen the center for normal operations Friday morning for workers' first shift. A slow-moving Tropical Storm Fay has kept Kennedy closed since Tuesday. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex also will reopen Friday.
Based on initial assessments, there is no damage to space flight hardware, such as the space shuttles and Hubble Space Telescope equipment. Some facilities did sustain minor damage. Most reports are of water intrusion that will require mopping up.
A group of emergency personnel, known as a "ride-out crew," has been on-site since Tuesday and will remain on-duty until Friday morning to provide real-time assessments.
Fay On the Edge of the World
Credit: GeoEye/NASA> Click for full length view of image NASA and GeoEye's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) captured this spectacular image of Tropical Storm Fay and the eastern U.S. on August 20, 2008. SeaWiFS provides quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean color signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific and practical applications.
Aug. 21, 2008
Tropical Storm Fay's Center Now Moving Inland
Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team> Larger image At 2:00 p.m. EDT, Thurs. Aug. 21, Tropical Storm Fay is finally making landfall again after meandering in the Atlantic Ocean over the last day. It was crossing Florida east coast near Flagler Beach at that time. Its center was near 28.4 degrees north latitude and 81.0 degrees west longitude. It was trudging forward in a west-northwest direction near 2 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were still being clocked at 60 mph. Fay's minimum central pressure was near 993 millibars.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
Check out live radar from Jacksonville, Florida: http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?product=NCR&rid=jax&loop=yes"
Its forecast track has changed a little, based on movement of fronts and high pressure system over the next couple of days, as calculated by computer models. It''s forecast to move west across the Florida Panhandle then curve northwest into central Mississippi by Tuesday.
Rob Gutro / Michon Scott
Goddard Space Flight Center / NASA Earth Observatory
Aug. 21, 2008
Animation of Tropical Storm Fay
Click image to view animation
NASA's TRMM spacecraft observed this view of Tropical Storm Fay on August 20, 2008 at 0345Z as it crossed Florida. At this time the storm sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) and a pressure reading of 990 millibars. The storm stalled in this location for 24 hours and brought over 24 inches of rain to Eastern Florida. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner(VIRS) and the GOES spacecraft. The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI) and TRMM's Precitation Radar(PR) instruments. TRMM looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour.
Aug. 21, 2008
Super Soaker Tropical Storm Fay Still Sitting off Central Florida Coast
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image Fay hasn't moved much in the overnight hours of Aug. 20-21. The center of Tropical Storm Fay continues to linger off the coast of central Florida, over the warm Gulf Stream waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
At 8:00 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, Fay was still barely moving and raining heavily on east central Florida. Its center was near 29.2 degrees north latitude and 80.7 degrees west longitude, or 20 miles east of Daytona Beach, Florida. Melbourne, Florida has received the greatest amount of rain so far.
See Live Radar of Daytona Beach here:
http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=MLB&product=NCR&overlay=11101111&loop=yes
Eventually, Fay will move west-northwest, likely late today. By Saturday, it's expected to be near the Florida Panhandle. It's still a tropical storm, with sustained winds near 60 mph. Its minimum central pressure is 994 millibars.
Two-Day Rainfall Totals Recorded from Fay
Rainfall totals from Aug 19 and 20 are in, although being verified. Here's a look at some cities in east-central Florida: The National Weather Service station at Daytona recorded 4.47 inches of rain from Fay on Aug. 20, and .49 inches on the 19, totaling 4.98 inches in two days. Further west, Orlando received .82 inch and 1.92 inches totaling 2.74 inches. South of Daytona, Melbourne recorded 7.97 inches of rain on the 20th and 5.91 on the 19th, totaling 13.88 inches. Vero Beach reported 3.61 inches on Aug. 20, and 6.33 on Aug. 19, giving a 2 day total from Fay at 9.94 inches of rain.
How Much More Rain is Expected?
Fay is expected to produce rainfall accumulations over the next 36 hours of 5 to 10 inches across the northern portion of the Florida Peninsula...with isolated amounts of 15 inches. Rainfall accumulations of 3 to 6 inches are also likely over southeastern Georgia during the same period. Isolated storm total accumulations of near 30 inches can be expected in Florida. Isolated tornadoes are possible today over portions of northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia.
The NASA Satellite Images
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image These visible and infrared images of Fay were created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. They were created on August 20 at 18:35 UTC (2:35 a.m. EDT).
The AIRS images show the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of Tropical Storm Fay. The AIRS data creates an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.
The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the ocean waters, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
Related link:
> NASA Kennedy Center Partly Reopens
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
August 20, 2008 - third update
Fay Stalls Over Florida
Tropical Storm Fay. Image credit: NASA JPL
> Larger image Tropical Storm Fay, seen in this Aug. 20 11:35 UTC (2:35 p.m. EDT) infrared image from NASA's Aqua spacecraft when the storm was near Cape Canaveral, Fla. At the time, maximum sustained winds were near 50 miles per hour (85 kilometers per hour) with higher gusts.
Fay continues to dump torrential rain over Florida. The storm is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of five to 10 inches over east-central and northeastern Florida, with three to six inches over southeastern Georgia. Isolated storm total amounts of 30 inches are possible in Florida.
Fay is moving toward the north near two miles per hour (four kilometers per hour). This general motion is expected to continue, with a gradual turn to the northwest and west-northwest on Thursday, Aug. 21, taking Fay very slowly across northern Florida.
The AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of Fay. The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the ocean and land surfaces, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
Text credit: Alan Buis, JPL
August 20, 2008 - second update
Tropical Storm Fay Stalled, Soaking Florida's Space Coast
Credit: NASA JPL
> Larger image At 2:00 p.m. EDT, Wed. Aug 20, Tropical Storm Fay continued drenching Cape Canaveral, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and Florida's Space Coast with heavy rains as it stalled out.
At that time, the center of Tropical Storm Fay was located near latitude 28.6 north and longitude 80.6 west about 15 miles north of Cape Canaveral. Fay had been nearly stationary during the past few hours. Fay is expected to resume a slow northward motion later today with a turn to the northwest on Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. These winds are occurring mostly over water well to the east of the center. Estimated minimum central pressure is 997 millibars.
More rain is expected as Fay continues to linger. It's expected to produce 5-10 inches over east-central and northeastern Florida. The National Hurricane Center noted that isolated areas may even see up to 30 inches of rain in Florida. That's 2 1/2 feet! One unofficial report northwest of Melbourne, Florida recorded 22 inches of rain already.
In addition, Fay will dump 3-6 inches over drought-stricken southeastern Georgia and also in the northwestern Bahamas.
Another threat in addition to flooding rains is isolated tornadoes, which are also possible over northeastern Florida.
This infrared image of Fay was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on August 20 at 7:29 UTC (3:29 a.m. EDT).
The AIRS image shows the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of Fay. The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the ocean and land surfaces, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
August 20, 2008 - first update Fay is an Unwelcome Visitor at NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Residents near NASA's Kennedy Space Center are experiencing Tropical Storm Fay first hand, as its center was located near Cape Canaveral, Fla. in the morning hours of Wed. Aug. 20, dumping heavy rains over the area.
Fay is expected to sideswipe the Atlantic Ocean, power up and move back inland in a westerly direction.
At 8:00 a.m. EDT, Aug. 20, Fay's center remains just inland along the Florida coast near Cape Canaveral. Specifically it was located near latitude 28.5 north and longitude 80.6 west. It may not emerge over the Atlantic Ocean until this afternoon when Fay is expected to move north of the Cape Canaveral area.
Fay is moving toward the north near 5 mph, and will turn toward the northwest gradually over the next 12 to 24 hours. It's a slow mover, so it will be lingering over the Florida coast for another day. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 45 mph. Latest minimum central pressure reported by ab air force reconnaissance aircraft was 994 millibars.
QuikSCAT Watching Fay's Winds
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image NASA's QuikSCAT satellite has been watching Fay's winds, by using microwaves to peer into the clouds. QuikSCAT can determine the speed of the rotating winds. This image from QuikSCAT shows Fay's wind speeds in different colors and wind direction are indicated by small barbs. White barbs point to areas of heavy rain. The highest wind speeds, are shown in purple, which indicate winds over 40 knots (46 mph). This image was captured on Aug. 19 at 11:33 UTC (7:33 a.m. EDT) when Fay's center was over south Florida. The center, not shown, is over land.
For a look at LIVE RADAR from Cape Canaveral, Florida: > click this link.
NASA's Terra Satellite Covers Fay's Clouds
Credit: Jesse Allen, MODIS Rapid Response team, NASA/GSFC> Larger image This photo-like image was made from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the storm at 10:35 a.m. local time (15:35 UTC) on August 18. Fay had crossed through central Cuba and was most of the way across the Florida Straits when MODIS obtained these data. The storm system appears as an organized ball of spiraling clouds, but it lacks the central eye usually associated with a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center was reporting sustained winds in the storm system of 95 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour).
For the latest Public Advisories on Fay, visit: > NOAA.
Text credit: Rob Gutro/Holli Riebeek, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 19, 2008, third update
Fay Feeds on Florida
QuikScat view of Tropical Storm Fay. Image credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image Tropical Storm Fay engulfs Southern and Central Florida in this QuikScat image taken Tues., Aug. 19, at 11:33 UTC (7:33 a.m. EDT) shortly after Fay made its second Florida landfall in southwestern Florida. This image depicts wind speed in color and wind direction with small barbs. White barbs point to areas of heavy rain. The highest wind speeds are shown in purple.
Aug. 19, 2008, second update
Tropical Storm Fay Makes Landfall in Southern Florida
Credit: Hal Pierce, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SSAI> Larger image After passing through the Florida Keys, Fay, the sixth named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall during the early morning hours of August 19, 2008, at Cape Romano, located about 55 miles south of Ft. Meyers on the southern Gulf Coast of Florida, as a moderate intensity tropical storm with sustained winds reported at 60 mph by the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Where is Fay Now?
At 3:00 p.m. EDT Aug. 19, the center of tropical storm Fay was near latitude 27.1 north and longitude 81.1 west or about 15 miles west-southwest of Okeechobee, Florida.
It's moving north-northeast near 8 mph and will gradually turn north and slow down. On this track Fay should move over water near the east coast of north Florida on Wednesday, the 20th.
Fay hasn't weakened as thought. In fact, its winds are up slightly, and are now sustained near 65 mph. Some restrengthening is expected when Fay moves over the Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 20. The estimated minimum central pressure is 986 millibars.
Fay is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over the southern and east-central Florida peninsula, with as much as 15 inches in isolated spots. Storm tides of 1 to 3 feet above normal are possible along Florida's East coast, and isolated tornadoes are possible today over the eastern half of the Florida peninsula.
Where Did Fay Come From?
Fay originated from an African easterly wave (AEW) that emerged off of the coast of West Africa over 10 days ago back on the 7th of August. On average, there are about 60 of these westward-moving waves in a given year, but only a fraction of them develop into tropical cyclones in the Atlantic. This particular wave passed through the Lesser Antilles on the 14th and entered the eastern Caribbean. It became more organized as it was passing over the eastern Dominican Republic and became Tropical Storm Fay on the afternoon of the 15th of August. After passing over Hispaniola, the center of Fay re-emerged over water and continued westward, hugging the southern coast of Cuba before turning north and crossing over west-central Cuba on the 18th. In Haiti, 9 people died as a result of flooding from Fay, and 5 deaths were reported in the Dominican Republic. Fay's close proximity to land prevented it from intensifying, and the system remained a tropical storm.
Fay emerged off of the northern coast of Cuba and over the Florida Straits on the morning of the 18th heading northward toward the Florida Keys. The center of Fay passed over Key West at 3 pm local time with sustained winds of 60 mph. Fay had a window of opportunity to intensify into a hurricane over the warm waters of the southeastern Gulf of Mexico before reaching land again. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (also known as TRMM) has been in service for over 10 years now and continues to provide valuable images and information on tropical cyclones around the Tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space.
What Does the TRMM Satellite See?
These unique images of Fay were captured by TRMM at 22:18 UTC (6:18 pm EDT) 18 August 2008 just after the storm had passed through the Florida Keys and was heading for the southwest coast of peninsular Florida. The first image shows the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within the storm. Rain rates in the center swath are based on the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), and those in the outer swath on the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM reveals that Fay has a rather large, ragged eye, which is open to the southeast (see the gap in the blue area, which corresponds to light rain, in the central Keys). The storm does show good banding (curvature), but it is also fairly asymmetrical with most of the rain north of the center. Together these characteristics indicate the Fay has a developed circulation, but one that is not very intense. Tropical cyclones are like large heat engines. They rely on the heat released inside of growing convective clouds (i.e., thundershowers) to drive their circulation. This heating is known as latent heating and is most effective when it occurs near the core of the system. It is manifested by rainfall. TRMM shows an area of heavy rain (shown in the darker reds) just north of Fay's center. The area of heavy rain coincides with an area of active convection.
Credit: Hal Pierce, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SSAI> Larger image The second image was collected at the same time and shows a 3D perspective of the storm via the TRMM PR (the view is looking East). The closest red area shows an area of taller convective towers that are associated with the heavy rain shown in the previous image. These tall towers can be a sign of future strengthening as they indicate where significant amounts of latent heat are being released into the storm. This was apparent in Fay's central pressure, which began to fall after this image was taken and as the storm neared the Florida coastline. It means that Fay was in the process of intensifying as it approached the Florida coast. Fay's winds, however, did not have a sufficient chance to respond to the drop in central pressure before the system made landfall, which kept Fay from becoming a hurricane.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
Text credit: Steve Lang, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SSAI; Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 19, 2008, first update
Two NASA Satellites Eye Tropical Storm Fay Moving Across South Florida
Credit: NASA/JPL/Colorado State University/Naval Research Laboratory-Monterey> Larger image NASA's CloudSat and Aqua satellites are just two of NASA's fleet keeping eyes on Tropical Storm Fay. NASA is using these data to see cloud height and cloud temperatures which give hints at whether or not Fay will strengthen or weaken.
At 8:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 Fay's center was located inland in south Florida near latitude 26.5 north and longitude 81.4 west. That puts its center 30 miles east-southeast of Fort Myers, Florida and 35 miles southwest of Moore Haven on the west side of Lake Okeechobee.
Fay's maximum sustained winds remain near 60 mph with higher gusts, and it's expected to weaken slowly as it continues to move inland. Fay is moving toward the north-northeast near 9 mph and this motion is expected to continue today, taking the center of Fay across the Florida peninsula. It's expected to slow down and turn to the north on Wed. Estimated minimum central pressure is 988 millibars.
CloudSat Looks at Fay Sliced in Half
NASA's CloudSat satellite's Cloud Profiling Radar captured a sideways look across Fay on Aug. 18 at 18:50 UTC (2:50 pm. EDT). For comparison, the top image is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12) around the same time.
The red line through the GOES satellite image shows the vertical cross section of radar, basically what Fay's clouds looked like sideways. The colors indicate the intensity of the reflected radar energy. The top of Fay's clouds reach 14 kilometers, over 8.5 miles high.
The blue areas along the top of the clouds indicate cloud ice, while the wavy blue lines on the bottom center of the image indicate intense rainfall. Notice that the solid line along the bottom of the panel, which is the ground, disappears in this area of intense precipitation. It is likely that in the area the precipitation rate exceeds 30mm/hr (1.18 inches/hour) based on previous studies.
What Can Southern and East-Central Florida Expect?
Fay is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 4 to 8 inches, with maximum storm total amounts of 10 inches across the southern and east-central Florida peninsula accumulations of 3 to 5 inches are possible even as far east as the northwestern Bahamas. The tides are not expected to be greater than between 3 and 5 feet above normal along the southwestern coast of Florida. However, isolated tornadoes are still possible.
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image Where are the Cold, Highest Clouds in Fay?
This satellite image of Fay was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. It shows the temperature of Fay's cloud tops on Aug. 18, 18:41 UTC (2:41 p.m. EDT), around the same time the CloudSat captured its images of cloud heights. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up Fay's center. There are large areas of strong convection (rising air and rainfall) shown here in purple. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the Earth (over both land and water), revealing warmer temperatures (red).
The AIRS data creates an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.
Fay Changing Course
Fay is now forecast to head up to Jacksonville, and curve back inland, and track along the Georgia/Florida border headed toward southern Alabama.
Related link:
> NASA's Kennedy Space Center Closes for Tropical Storm Fay
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 18, 2008, second update
NASA's QuikSCAT Catches Fay's Winds; Fay Hits Florida
> Larger image
NASA's QuikSCAT satellite uses microwaves to peer into a storm, and determine the speed of the rotating winds. That's what QuikSCAT did as Tropical Storm Tropical Storm Fay hammered south Florida with heavy rains during the afternoon and evening hours of Mon. Aug. 18.
NASA's QuikSCAT flew over the southeast corner of Tropical Storm Fay on Aug. 18, as its center was exiting Cuba and heading for Key West. Fay's wind speed in color and wind direction with small barbs. White barbs point to areas of heavy rain. The highest wind speeds, are shown in purple, which indicate winds over 40 knots (46 mph).
Fay Battering South Florida at 2 p.m. EDT Aug. 18
At 2:00 p.m. EDT, Fay's outer rain bands stretched diagonally from southwest to northeast, from Fort Myers on the Gulf coast to Melbourne on the east coast, so all of south Florida is getting soaked. Meanwhile Fay's center was centered near latitude 24.3 north and longitude 81.6 west or about 20 miles southeast of Key West, Florida.
Fay is moving toward the north-northwest near 14 mph and is expected to turn north and slow down later today. Fay should be near the southwest coast of the Florida peninsula on Tuesday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph with higher gusts. Some strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours, and Fay is forecast to become a hurricane as it nears the southwestern Florida coast on Aug. 19. An automated weather station at Sombrero Key, Florida recently reported 10-minute average winds of 52 mph. and a gust to 62 mph. Key west recently reported a wind gust of 47 mph. The latest minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force reserve hurricane hunter aircraft is 1002 millibars.
Fay and Tornadoes
Anytime a Tropical Storm or hurricane makes landfall, there's always a chance for tornadoes. A tornado watch (meaning tornadoes are possible) is posted for all of south Florida today until 11:00 p.m. EDT today, Aug. 18. The National Weather Service did issue a Tornado Warning for the lower Keys in Monroe County this afternoon (expired at 1:45 p.m.). That means that a tornado was either visually reported, or rotation was seen on Doppler radar. Meanwhile, as Fay begins to move north and up through Florida, a tornado watch remains in effect until 11:00 p.m. EDT Monday evening for central Florida.
For a look at LIVE RADAR from Key West, Fla.:
http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=BYX&product=NCR&overlay=11101111&loop=yes
Fay's Rain and Tides in South Florida
The National Hurricane Center is forecasting storm tides of 3 to 5 feet above normal are possible along the southwestern coast of Florida near the center of Fay. Tides of 2 to 4 ft above normal are possible in the Florida Keys. Key West is only 4 feet above sea level, so flooding is expected.
Fay is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 4 to 8 inches with maximum amounts of 10 inches possible over the Florida Keys and South Florida. Rainfall accumulations of 3 to 5 inches are possible in the northwestern Bahamas.
For the latest Public Advisories on Fay, visit:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 18, 2008, first update
Tropical Storm Fay Exiting Cuba, Targeting Florida Keys
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image The tropical disturbance that was centered over Puerto Rico on Friday, August 15, transformed into the sixth tropical storm of the Atlantic Hurricane Season by 5 p.m. that night. At that time, the new Tropical Storm Fay was located 35 miles (55 km) east of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
As of Monday, Aug. 18 at 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC), Fay's center had moved across Cuba and was located over the northern coast of western Cuba. It was near latitude 23.2 degrees north and 81.2 degrees west. That places Fay's center just northeast of the town of Varadero, which is also about 100 miles south-southeast of Key West Florida.
Fay is moving toward the north-northwest near 12 mph (19 km/hr). The National Hurricane Center noted that this motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours with a turn to the north expected on Tuesday. The center of Fay should be emerging into the Florida straits during the next few hours...and be very near the Florida keys tonight.
Reports from an air force reserve hurricane hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds are now near 60 mph (100 km/hr) with higher gusts. Some strengthening is expected as the center of Fay moves over water. Fay is forecast to be approaching hurricane strength in the Florida Keys and to become a hurricane before it reaches the Florida peninsula. Estimated minimum central pressure is 1002 millibars.
This infrared image of Fay was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on August 17 at 7:05 UTC (3:05 a.m. EDT). At that time, Fay's center was southeast of the southeastern tip of Cuba.
The AIRS images show the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of Tropical Storm Fay. The AIRS data creates an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.
The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the ocean waters, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
Fay Will Bring Lots of Rain to Cuba, Florida Keys, Bahamas
Fay is expected to produce a good amount of rain from Cuba to the Bahamas to south Florida and the Florida Keys. Much of Cuba will see rainfall accumulations of 4 to 8 inches with isolated amounts to 12 inches. These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides. Heavy rains are expected to spread across south Florida today. Storm total amounts of 4 to 8 inches with maximum amounts of 10 inches are possible for the Florida Keys and south Florida. Rainfall accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible in the northwestern Bahamas.
Text Credit: Rob Gutro
Goddard Space Flight Center
Aug. 15, 2008
Tropical Disturbance Over Puerto Rico May Become Tropical Depression
Credit: NASA JPL> Larger image Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are keeping an eye on an area of low pressure centered over Puerto Rico, and it is expected to be classified as a tropical depression later today, August 15.
At 11:00 a.m. EDT on Aug. 15, satellite imagery and radar data from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic indicated that the low pressure area is becoming better organized. It was centered over the Mona Passage.
The system may develop into a tropical depression before the low moves west-northwestward near or over the Dominican Republic this afternoon. NOAA and air force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft are scheduled to investigate the system.
According to the National Hurricane Center, "This system is expected to bring locally heavy rains and gusty winds to portions of the Virgin Islands... Puerto Rico...Hispaniola...Eastern Cuba...and the southeastern Bahamas interests in these areas...as well as in the remainder of the Bahamas the remainder of Cuba and southern Florida should monitor the progress of this system."
This infrared image of the tropical disturbance was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on August 15 at 5:41 UTC (1:41 a.m. EDT).
The AIRS images show the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The lowest temperatures (in purple) are associated with high, cold cloud tops that make up the top of the disturbance. The AIRS data creates an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.
The infrared signal of the AIRS instrument does not penetrate through clouds. Where there are no clouds the AIRS instrument reads the infrared signal from the surface of the ocean waters, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
Text credit: Rob Gutro (From NHC Reports), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center