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Hurricane Season 2008: Tropical Storm Josephine (Eastern Atlantic Ocean)
Josephine: An Eastern Atlantic Mystery – She Gone, She's Coming Back?
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image Tropical Storm Josephine formed off the western African coast last week, and dissipated on Saturday, Sept. 6. However, by Monday, Sept. 8, forecasters are keeping a close eye on her remnants.
On Sept. 6 around 5:00 a.m. EDT, Josephine was dissipating near 16.8 degrees north and 36.9 degrees west, that's about 1,280 miles west of Africa's Cape Verde Islands.
At that time, Tropical Depression Josephine was moving west-northwest near 9 mph with maximum sustained winds near 30 mph. Her minimum central pressure at that time was 1007 millibars.
On Sept. 8, Josephine's remnants had tracked west, and were located about 1,200 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. The remnants were still producing intermittent and disorganized showers and thunderstorms. The National Hurricane Center is still keeping an eye on Josephine's remnants, however. Even though upper-level winds are not favorable for strengthening and organizing Josephine right now, they're "expected to become a little more conducive to redevelopment in a couple of days."
NASA's Aqua Satellite Checks Josephine's Cloud Temperatures
This infrared image of Josephine was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on Sept. 5 at 15:11 UTC (11:11 a.m. EDT).
The AIRS images show the temperature of the cloud tops or the surface of the Earth in cloud-free regions. The coolest temperatures appear in blue, and are cold cloud tops that make up the top of Josephine's remnants. Typically, in a tropical storm or hurricane, cloud heights are much taller and colder, and appear in purple.
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
Sept. 5, 2008
NASA Satellites See Josephine's Temperature and Winds
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image NASA's Aqua and QuikSCAT Satellites are providing forecasters with a two views of Tropical Storm Josephine – her temperature and winds.
This infrared image of Tropical Storm Josephine was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. It clearly shows that Josephine is in the open waters of the eastern Atlantic after passing Africa's Cape Verde Islands to its right. The image was created on September 4 at 3:35 UTC (Sept. 3, 11:35 p.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 Ike. 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.
Josephine in Open Eastern Atlantic Waters
Josephine had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph with higher gusts on Sept. 5, and she was in the open waters of the eastern Atlantic. That's where she'll be over the weekend.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT Josephine's center was 665 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, near latitude 15.7 north and longitude 34.3 west. She was moving northwest near 9 mph and will continue on this track over the weekend. Her minimum central pressure is 1001 millibars.
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image QuikSCAT Sees Josephine's Winds
NASA's QuikSCAT satellite has been watching Josephine's winds as they swirl inside her clouds by using microwaves to see through them. This image was captured on Sept. 4 at 22:22 UTC, or 6:22 p.m. EDT.
QuikSCAT can determine the speed of the rotating winds. This image from QuikSCAT shows Josephine'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 (around the eye), which indicate winds over 50 knots (57 mph).
Text credit: Rob Gutro (from NHC Reports), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sept. 4, 2008
Josephine Still in Far Eastern Atlantic, Little Stronger
Credit: Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC)> Larger image A new day dawned on Thursday, September 4 and Tropical Storm Josephine is a little stronger with maximum sustained winds near 60 mph.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT Josephine's center was located near latitude 14.2 north and longitude 31.3 west or about 465 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands. She's moving west-northwest near 10 mph. Her minimum central pressure is near 997 millibars.
NASA's TRMM Satellite Analyzes Rainfall from Space
The image above was made from data captured by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite on August 3 at 09:20 UTC (5:20 a.m. EDT), when she had maximum sustained winds near 58 mph. This TRMM image shows the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within Josephine. The center is located near the yellow, green and red areas, which indicate rainfall between 20 and 40 millimeters (.78 to 1.57 inches) per hour. The red area is considered moderate rainfall.
For more information about how TRMM looks at rainfall, visit NASA's TRMM website at: http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image NASA's Aqua Satellite Shows Jo's Cloud Temperatures
This infrared image of Josephine was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on Sept. 3 at 15:23 UTC (11:23 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 Josephine. 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 ocean and land surfaces, revealing warmer temperatures in orange and red.
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sept. 3, 2008, second update
NASA's CloudSat Sideways View of Josephine
Credit: NASA JPL/Colorado State University/Naval Research Laboratory-Monterey> Larger image On Wednesday, Sept. 3, NASA's CloudSat satellite's Cloud Profiling Radar captured a sideways look across Tropical Storm Josephine as she continue moving west away from the African coast.
The top image is from NASA's Aqua satellite, taken at 15:27 Zulu Time (11:27 a.m. EDT), and the image 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 Josephine's clouds looked like sideways. The colors indicate the intensity of the reflected radar energy. The top of Josephine'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
Sept. 3, 2008, first update
Tropical Storm Josephine Getting Stronger West of Africa
Credit: NASA/JPL> Larger image Josephine is a tropical storm that developed on Sept. 2 from the tenth tropical depression of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season. She's currently in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean, west of the African continent, but she's getting a little stronger.
At 11:00 a.m. EDT Josephine was packing maximum sustained winds near 65 mph, and is not forecast to strengthen much over the next day or two. Her center was located near latitude 13.8 north and longitude 28.8 west or about 305 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands. Josephine is moving toward the west near 10 mph. A turn toward the west-northwest with an increase in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days. Her minimum central pressure is 994 millibars.
What Does This NASA Satellite Image Show?
This infrared image of Josephine was created by data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), an instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image was created on Sept. 2 at 14:41 UTC (10:41 a.m. EDT). The western African coast is clearly visible to the right, and the Cape Verde Islands are just to the north of Tropical Storm Josephine.
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 Josephine. 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, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Sept. 2, 2008
Tropical Storm Josephine Forms in Far Eastern Atlantic
Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project > Larger image
> Full Earth image Tropical Depression Ten formed in the early morning hours of September 2nd and by the afternoon it strengthened into Tropical Storm Josephine. That means that there were four tropical cyclones active in the Atlantic Ocean basin on Tuesday, September 2nd.
At 11:00 a.m. EDT Josephine was packing maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. She was located near latitude 13.2 north and longitude 25.3 west or about 125 miles south-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, off the western African coast.
Josephine is moving toward the west near 15 mph and will move west-northwest over the next couple of days, passing just south of the Cape Verde Islands late on Tuesday bringing rainfall between 2 and 3 inches today and tomorrow. Estimated minimum central pressure is 1005 millibars.
This satellite image was captured on September 2 at 17:45 UTC (1:45 p.m. EDT) from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-11 and GOES-12). In the image, Tropical Depression Gustav is on the far left over northwest Texas; Tropical Storm Hanna is located to the right of Gustav, currently over the southern Bahamas; Tropical Storm Ike follows to the right in open ocean; and Tropical Storm Josephine is off the African coast, far right.
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.
Text credit: Rob Gutro/Goddard Space Flight Center