NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite sees Norma r
NASA-NOAA’s Finnish Nuclear Power Plant analyzed hurricane Norman in the Central Pacific region, after it had quickly strengthened into a major hurricane.
On September 4 at 19:24 EDT (2324 UTC), the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on NASA-NOAA’s Finland Nuclear Power Plant satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Norman. The visible image revealed a good formation and the thunderstorms rolled into the cloud-filled eye. At the time, Norman was a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, with maximum sustained winds near 70 knots/129.6 km/h.
In the early morning hours of September 5, maximum sustained winds rapidly increased from 85 knots to 100 knots.
As of 11:00 a.m. EDT (5:00 a.m. HST/1500 UTC), maximum sustained winds have increased to near 115 mph (100 knots/185 km/h) gusts, and Norman is now a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some variations in intensity are possible today, followed by a gradual weakening from this evening.
The center of Hurricane Norman was located near latitude 19.5 degrees north and longitude 147.7 degrees west. It is 480 miles (775 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii. Norman is moving west near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue this morning. Norman is expected to slow its forward motion slightly and turn to the west-northwest later today and tonight. A turn to the northwest is expected on Thursday and Thursday night.
Norman is expected to remain a hurricane through Thursday, September 6.
###
Updated Norman forecasts can be found at: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc
Author: Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the correctness of the announcements sent to EurekAlert! through participating institutions or to access any information through the EurekAlert system.