NASA-NOAA’s Finland NPP satellite sees Hilary o
A satellite from NASA-NOAA’s Finnish nuclear power plant took a picture of Hurricane Hilary as it strengthened. The National Hurricane Center expects Hilary to become a major hurricane on July 27th.
Hilary is one of three active tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific and the closest storm of any land. When the Finland-NPP satellite passed its head, it gave a picture of a tropical storm train. Tropical Storm Greg is located furthest in the west, followed by Hurricane Irwin and furthest in the east by Hurricane Hilary.
July 24, 2017 at 6:12 PM EDT (2212 UTC) The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) at the NASA-NOAA Finnish Nuclear Power Plant satellite provided a visible light image of Hurricane Hilary. The VIIRS image showed a compact hurricane with intense thunderstorms circling the low-level orbit. A large number of strong thunderstorms were also intertwined in the center from the southwest quadrant.
On July 25, at 5:00 a.m., EDT National Hurricane Center forecaster Richard Pasch said, “Hilary’s compact, symmetrical inner core is still clearer in satellite imagery.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on July 25, Hurricane Hilary Center was located near 15.3 degrees north latitude and 106.7 degrees west longitude. It is about 360 miles (575 km) south of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico. Hilary is far enough away from the country that the Coast Guard or warnings are not valid.
Hilary is moving west-northwest near 10 mph (17 km / h), and this overall movement is expected to increase somewhat forward in terms of speed over the next two days. The estimated minimum mean pressure is 975 millibars. The maximum continuous wind speed has risen to close to 165 kilometers per hour and gusts. Continued strengthening is forecast for the next day, and Hilary is likely to become a major hurricane later on July 27th.
Hilary is still a compact hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 15 miles (30 km) from downtown and tropical storm winds extending outwardly up to 70 miles (110 km).
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Updated forecasts can be found at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.
Author: Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
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